Amanda Serrano to Fight Heather Hardy in Highly Anticipated Rematch

Posted on May 5, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Amanda Serrano will be facing an old rival…

The 34-year-old Puerto Rican professional boxer, mixed martial artist and professional wrestler will put her undisputed featherweight title on the line against Heather Hardy in the co-main event of the Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz card on August 5 in Dallas, according to ESPN.

Serrano beat Hardy, her fellow Brooklyn resident, in a grueling unanimous decision victory in 2019 to win the WBO women’s featherweight belt.

With a win in August, Serrano will seek a rematch with Katie Taylor in Taylor’s home country of Ireland. The two fought last year in what was the first-ever women’s headliner at Madison Square Garden and one of the biggest women’s boxing matches ever. Serrano is promoted by Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions.

“Amanda is one of the most decorated and elite athletes ever and is on path to become the winningest female boxer of all time,” Most Valuable Promotions co-founder Nakisa Bidarian said in a statement. “After some much-needed recovery time, Amanda is excited to return to the ring and remind fans why she is the most devastating puncher in women’s boxing. If Amanda prevails in the fight, the plan is to immediately pursue the rematch with Katie Taylor in Ireland.”

Serrano (44-2-1) has won two straight since falling to Taylor in a close split decision in April 2022. She is the first Puerto Rican-born undisputed world champion in boxing history. Serrano has 30 knockout victories in her career and has lost just once — the Taylor fight — in 11 years. She has won titles in seven different weight divisions.

“I am the undisputed featherweight champion today because Heather Hardy agreed to fight me in 2019 for her WBO title,” Serrano said. “That was the first step in my current run at featherweight. It’s only right that I give her the opportunity to earn it back. I’m excited to once again share the card with Jake and put on an exciting war.”

Hardy (24-2, 1 NC) has won two straight, most recently a majority decision win over Taynna Cardoso in February. “The Heat,” who is promoted by Lou DiBella, had her undefeated record spoiled by Serrano in 2019. Hardy, 41, has also competed in MMA under the Bellator banner. She was the WBO women’s featherweight champion in 2018 and 2019.

“I’m beyond grateful for this opportunity,” Hardy said. “In 2021, I came back to boxing with a renewed passion for the sport. My late trainer told me, the day before he died, that 2023 would be my year. Now, I have the opportunity to prove him right and become an undisputed champion. Thank you to Amanda and team for keeping their word on giving me the rematch, but come fight night, I only have winning on my mind and stealing the show from Jake Paul and Nate Diaz.”

Amanda Serrano to Fight Katie Taylor in Highly Anticipated Rematch

Posted on February 6, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Amanda Serrano isn’t resting on her laurels…

The 34-year-old Puerto Rican professional boxer, mixed martial artist and professional wrestler, who defeated Erika Cruz on Saturday in an undisputed featherweight title fight, will fight Katie Taylor on May 20.

It’s a rematch of their epic fight last April at Madison Square Garden.

Taylor won that bout by split decision to defend her undisputed lightweight title.

The rematch will take place in Dublin, Ireland, where the two will once again fight for Taylor’s lightweight belts. The location has not been announced, but 82,000-seat Croke Park and 13,000-seat 3Arena have been mentioned as possibilities.

After Serrano beat Cruz by unanimous decision on Saturday night, Taylor joined her in the ring to announce the fight.

“This is more than a dream come true — my debut in Ireland against Amanda Serrano, ‘The Real Deal’ Amanda Serrano,” Taylor said. “This is incredible and as I said, the last fight was epic, and I expect nothing less for the next one.”

Serrano’s trainer, Jordan Maldonado, said a rematch against Taylor in Ireland was something that was always part of the discussions — it had even been brought up as early as the post-fight news conference following Taylor-Serrano I — and Maldonado said the only way they wanted to do the rematch was if it was in Ireland.

They said they understood the importance of that to Taylor.

“She fought us here in New York. We’re Puerto Rican, but this is basically our home,” Maldonado said. “One of the things that I had said is the only way I would take the Katie Taylor fight is if it is in Ireland.

“She deserves it.”

Serrano, who has won titles in seven divisions, told ESPN in December and January that the only fight she would move up in weight for would be a rematch against Taylor.

“A lot of people want to see the fight, and I think it solidifies women’s boxing,” Serrano told ESPN in December. “I think it puts the exclamation point and it shows that we’re here and we’re going to continue to take on challenges.”

The first Serrano-Taylor fight was a flashpoint for women’s boxing. The first women boxers to headline at Madison Square Garden, Taylor and Serrano sold out one of the most iconic arenas in the sport. They put on a close, competitive fight that won Fight of the Year from multiple publications and Moment of the Year from many others.

The bout helped continue to elevate the careers of Taylor, 36, and Serrano, two of the three best pound-for-pound fighters in the world along with undisputed middleweight champion Claressa Shields.

“It hit me the next day when I realized the people that tuned in to watch the fight, this was not only boxing fans, it was celebrities outside of boxing that knew who we were, what we were doing,” Serrano said. “Making history. It was just altogether, the week leading up to the fight, the promotion, how Madison Square Garden was promoting the fight, it was just so amazing.”

Since fighting Serrano, Taylor (22-0, 6 KO) beat Karen Carabajal in October. Serrano (44-2-1, 30 KO) beat Sarah Mahfoud in September to win the IBF featherweight title, and Saturday’s win over Cruz made her the undisputed featherweight champion.

Maldonado and Serrano said they’ll begin a true fight camp for Taylor in the middle of March and do some light training until then.

Amanda Serrano to Face Erika Cruz in Undisputed Featherweight Title Bout

Posted on December 28, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Amanda Serrano will be fighting for undisputed status in February…

The 34-year-old Puerto Rican professional boxer, mixed martial artist and professional wrestler, the current IBF, WBC and WBO featherweight titleholder, will face WBA champion Erika Cruz in an undisputed featherweight title fight, according to ESPN.

The fight between Serrano and Cruz will headline a card on February 4 at the Hulu Theater in New York City.

If Serrano wins, it will be the first time the seven-division titleholder would be an undisputed champion in a division, and she would be the first Puerto Rican undisputed champ, male or female.

Serrano (43-2-1, 30 KO) was last in the ring in September, when she beat Sarah Mahfoud by unanimous decision to win the IBF featherweight title. Serrano is ESPN’s No. 3 pound-for-pound fighter.

She fought twice last year, against Mahfoud and Katie Taylor, a split-decision loss at the big room of Madison Square Garden in what was named ESPN‘s women’s fight of the year in 2022.

Cruz (15-1, 3 KO), 35, won the WBA belt in April, 2021, when she beat Jelena Mrdjenovich by technical decision.

She since defended the title twice, beating Melissa Esquivel by split decision in 2021 and Mrdjenovich by unanimous decision in a rematch in September. Cruz suffered her only loss in 2016, a majority decision loss to Alondra Gonzalez Flores in a four-round fight in Cruz’s second career fight.

For all of Serrano’s accomplishments – and there have been many since she began fighting professionally in 2009 – she has never become an undisputed four-belt champion, something she would become should she beat Cruz.

This could be the beginning of a big year for Serrano, who has said she would like to face Katie Taylor in a rematch of an April fight that saw Taylor win a split decision over Serrano for Taylor’s undisputed lightweight titles.

But first, Serrano said, she knew she wanted to fight Cruz.

“After Cruz,” Serrano told ESPN recently. “It’s a great storyline. Undisputed versus undisputed champion, and of course it’s a different weight class, but it is what it is. The first fight was great, and I think the second fight would be even better.”

Serrano said she would go up to lightweight to fight Taylor a second time should that fight happen.

ESPN previously reported Ramla Ali is also expected to fight on the February 4 card.

WBA Orders Amanda Serrano to Fight Erika Cruz for Undisputed Featherweight Title

Posted on November 1, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Amanda Serrano has received her orders…

The WBA has ordered a fight between the 34-year-old Puerto Rican professional boxer, mixed martial artist and professional wrestler and Erika Cruz for the undisputed featherweight title, according to the organization’s Twitter account.

The sides will have 30 days to close a deal before a purse bid is ordered.

Serrano (43-2-1, 30 KOs) holds the WBO, WBA and IBF titles at 126 pounds while Cruz (15-1, 3 KOs) holds the WBA version.

Serrano met Katie Taylor in the biggest boxing match in women’s history in April and dropped a split decision. That fight was at 135 pounds for the undisputed lightweight championship. Afterward, Serrano returned to 126 pounds and successfully defended her three titles with a unanimous-decision victory over Sarah Mahfoud in September.

Cruz, 32, won the featherweight title in 2021 with a technical decision over Jelena Mrdjenovich and has made two defenses. Most recently, she scored a shutout decision over Mrdjenovich in a September rematch.

Serrano is ESPN’s No. 1 featherweight and No. 3 pound-for-pound boxer. Cruz is No. 2 at 126 pounds.

Taylor retained her lightweight championship on Saturday with a unanimous-decision over Karen Elizabeth Carbajal and called for a rematch with Serrano next year in Taylor’s native Ireland.

Amanda Serrano to Share Fight Card with Jake Paul in Return to Madison Square Garden in August

Posted on June 10, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Amanda Serrano is returning to the ring this summer…

The 33-year-old Puerto Rican professional boxer, mixed martial artist and professional wrestler will once again share a fight card with Jake Paul when they fight on August 6 at Madison Square Garden in what they’re labeling “two main events.”

The fights will be on Showtime Pay Per View. It’s the second straight fight for Serrano at MSG and Paul’s first in the iconic venue.

Serrano will fight at featherweight, where she’ll defend her WBO and WBC belts for the first time since her August 29, 2021 fight against Yamileth Mercado.

Serrano, one of two clients of Paul’s management and promotional company, Most Valuable Promotions, last fought on April 30 at a sold-out Madison Square Garden in a fight considered one of the best in women’s boxing history in a split-decision loss to Katie Taylor for the undisputed lightweight championship.

This will be the fourth fight for Serrano (42-2-1, 30 KO) attached to Paul. She first fought as the co-main event on Paul’s first fight against Tyron Woodley last August.

She signed with his promotional company a month later and fought as the co-main event on Paul’s second fight against Woodley in December.

She then fought Taylor in April, which was co-promoted by Paul and Eddie Hearn from Matchroom Boxing.

There was thinking that Serrano’s next fight would be a rematch against Taylor in Ireland later this year — Serrano and Paul both said they would be open to it immediately after the April fight — but Hearn told multiple outlets in the past couple of weeks that such a fight would not take place in Ireland in the immediate future.

Paul (5-0, 4 KO) last fought in December, knocking out Woodley. He said he was going to take a break after fighting four times in 13 months between November 2020 and December 2021, then announced an August return to the ring the day after Serrano fought Taylor at MSG in April.

“Back in the gym, back to training and excited, more excited and motivated than ever,” Paul told ESPN back in March. “You know, that was Chapter 1 of my boxing career, that was my rookie season, and now I get to go on another chapter here.”

Paul had initially said he was returning to the ring on August 13, but has now moved it up a week.

Amanda Serrano to Fight Katie Taylor in First Women’s Boxing Match to Headline at MSG

Posted on January 28, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Amanda Serrano is ready to take part in the biggest fight in women’s boxing history.

The 33-year-old Puerto Rican professional boxer, mixed martial artist and professional wrestler, a seven-division world titlist, will face undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor.

The bout between Taylor and Serrano, ESPN‘s No. 1 and No. 2 in the pound-for-pound rankings, has been scheduled for April 30.

They will headline a card in one of the most iconic boxing venues in the world, the main arena of Madison Square Garden. It is the first women’s boxing match in history to headline at MSG.

“I wasn’t sure if it was going to be possible, but for this fight to headline at Madison Square Garden would truly be the pinnacle of the sport,” Taylor told ESPN recently. “So much of boxing’s history is linked to MSG, and I’ve been fortunate enough to fight there already on a couple of occasions.

“It’s such an iconic venue so to be part of the first ever women’s fight to main event there would be truly special.”

This fight has been talked about for years — and booked in the past before falling apart. Now, though, with a major venue, a headline attraction and major paydays for both fighters, it is locked into happening.

Both fighters knew the possibility was coming in December, before they won their last fights of 2021. Taylor won a unanimous decision over Firuza Sharipova on Dec. 11 and a week later, Serrano picked up a unanimous decision against Miriam Gutierrez.

Now, Taylor (19-0, 6 KO), 35, and Serrano (42-1-1, 30 KO) will end up in the ring against each other.

“It is the megafight for women’s boxing,” Serrano said after she beat Gutierrez. “You have pound-for-pound top three, however you look at it.”

It’s a long way from when Serrano’s sister, Cindy, lost to Taylor in a unanimous decision in Boston in 2018. The paydays then were much smaller. It is expected to be the biggest payout of Amanda Serrano’s career on the biggest stage as well as the largest payday in women’s boxing history.

“After the Katie Taylor fight, I’ll be able to sit down and say, ‘This is what boxing has done for me,'” Serrano told ESPN. “And be comfortable.”

It’s also a fight between two of the latest pioneers in the sport. Taylor, when she was 15, fought in the first sanctioned women’s boxing match in Ireland. After turning pro in 2016, working with Eddie Hearn‘s Matchroom Boxing, Taylor helped push women’s boxing into the mainstream.

Serrano, who for years had been considered one of the best knockout fighters in the sport, received even more attention and notoriety over the past six months among a broader base of fans after she began fighting as the co-main events of Jake Paul‘s last two fights.

The fight, which will be put on by Matchroom Boxing and Paul and Nakisa Bidarian‘s Most Valuable Promotions, could be a boon for women’s boxing, which has been trying to get more in the conversation of mainstream sports. It’s also being announced almost two years to the day after Paul fought his first pro fight — on the same undercard as Serrano.

“We need to do more big fights like this for women,” Paul told ESPN last month. “What I’m excited about is using my creative ability to tell a story about why people should care about Amanda Serrano, specifically, but also women’s boxing and also this fight against Katie Taylor.

“Because people should care, and people do care. A lot of people care but I think a lot more women should care and a lot more people in general should care.”

Amanda Serrano Defeats Miriam Gutierrez To Set Up Potential Fight Against Katie Taylor

Posted on December 19, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Amanda Serrano is one step closer to the fight she’s been waiting for…

The 33-year-old Puerto Rican professional boxer, mixed martial artist and professional wrestler easily bested Miriam Gutierrez on Saturday night inside Amalie Arena, setting up what she hopes will be a potential massive fight against undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor.

It’s a fight that has been discussed several times before but now appears ever so close to becoming a reality in 2022.

“It is the megafight for women’s boxing,” Serrano said. “You have pound-for-pound Top 3, however you look at it.”

While the fight date hasn’t been officially set yet, potential million-dollar purses and a venue of Madison Square Garden have been discussed by both Serrano’s team and Taylor’s.

Before she could think about it, though, she had to beat one more opponent to close out her 2021. In a 100-90, 99-91, 99-90 unanimous decision win over Gutierrez at lightweight, Serrano made it clear she’s one of the best fighters in the world. And by moving up to lightweight for this fight — and fighting as she did — she knows what she wants next.

Serrano moved up in weight for the fight, hiring a nutritionist for the first time and continually enjoying chocolate milkshakes — while enduring eating carrots, among her least favorite foods — to prep. She also sparred with fighters who weighed far more than the 135 pounds she was fighting at — 150-and 160-pounders — in an attempt to prepare for Gutierrez.

After the fight, Gutierrez told Serrano she weighed 160 pounds on Saturday. Serrano, meanwhile, weighed 133 pounds.

The prep work against heavier fighters showed from the opening bell. Serrano landed 46% of her power punches and 236 total punches to 129 for Gutierrez. Almost every round seemed similar to the first, in which Serrano consistently pummeled Gutierrez’s head and body, putting her in the corner and against the ropes several times and looking like she was going to send Gutierrez to the canvas.

Gutierrez held on. Barely. Serrano landed 37 of 86 punches in the first round, a massive 43%, according to Showtime stats, while Gutierrez landed only eight.

“The strategy was to just go out there and just beat her,” Serrano said. “Beat her every single round and dominate her. Just box and show that I’m an all-around fighter. That I could do whatever I want in. I can brawl with her. I can box with her. Body shots, head shots.

“I wanted to be a complete fighter. The knockout, if it came, it came. But I just wanted to make sure that I beat her.”

The next two rounds showed Serrano’s more clinical side. Her pacing was a little slower, but she still went at Gutierrez consistently. Gutierrez rarely seemed to take a step forward throughout the first half of the fight.

Serrano again got Gutierrez against the ropes for the final minute of the fourth round, continually landing shots. Through four rounds, Serrano outlanded Gutierrez in power punches 83-49. She was more active, more powerful and more accurate. Through six rounds, Serrano, from Brooklyn, New York, outlanded Gutierrez 119-69 in total.

“She punches so hard,” Gutierrez said. “And she is consistent.”

It was a master class missing just one thing: the knockout. She bloodied Gutierrez’s nose in the seventh. Sensing opportunity, she continually pounded Gutierrez’s face throughout the seventh round, a constant barrage Gutierrez, from Madrid, seemed fortunate to survive.

Gutierrez appeared to have her best round in the eighth, but even punches that were landing didn’t seem to matter. Serrano would take one punch on her way to landing two on Gutierrez.

The last round was more of the same for Serrano (42-1-1, 30 KO). She backed Gutierrez (14-2, 5 KO) onto the ropes and then landed multiple shots before Gutierrez was able to escape. To Gutierrez’s credit, she held on well despite taking a ton of punishment, including two swollen eyes and a bloody nose.

Meanwhile, Serrano looked like she just had a long run on the treadmill. And now, she could end up with what she’s hoping for next — the biggest fight of her career. And one Serrano’s co-promoter, Jake Paul, believes can carry a card on its own after her fighting as the co-feature on his past two cards.

“That’s its own main event,” Paul said after his knockout victory over Tyron Woodley in Saturday night’s main event. “For sure. And I’m so excited. I’m going to do everything in my power to make that fight the biggest female boxing fight in the history of the sport.”

Araujo Claims Bronze in Women’s Boxing at the London Games

Posted on August 8, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

The gold medal wasn’t meant to be at the 2012 Olympic Games… But Adriana Araujo is setting her sights on the future and the next stage of her career.

The 30-year-old Brazilian fighter had to settle for a bronze medal after losing to Russia’s Sofya Ochigava on Wednesday in the women’s lightweight boxing semifinal at the London Games.

Araujo started the bout on a strong note by attacking the current world No. 2. The first round ended with the boxers tied.

But Ochigava took the lead in the second round and went on to win, 17-11.

In the end, the Russian boxer—who will go on to face reigning world champ Katie Taylor of Ireland in the final—was quicker on her feet and a more effective puncher than Araujo.

“Bronze is not what I wanted, but I’m leaving happy,” said Araujo after the fight. “The next Olympic games will be in my country,” she added, referring to Rio de Janeiro’s role as host of the 2016 Olympic Games, “but I won’t be there because I’m going professional.”

Araujo joins Marlen Esparza of the United States as only Latina fighters to win a medal in the debut of women’s boxing as an Olympic sport in London.

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