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Andreas Hell
amanda serrano She may have fallen behind in her trio fight katie taylor in July, but the seven-division world champion got back to her winning ways on Saturday a major decision victory Against Reina Tellez, who fought on 15 days’ notice. Serrano defended his WBO and WBA featherweight titles, fighting in front of his home fans in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The victory brought Serrano’s record to 48 wins with four losses (three to Taylor) and one draw, with 31 wins coming by knockout. “The Real Deal” tells ESPN Deportes ahead of fight what she wants To break Christy Martin’s record of most knockouts. Which ranks 32nd in the history of women’s boxing, and she achieved 50 wins before calling it a career. She worked hard to get the finish against Tellez (13-1-1, 5 KOs), but her opponent made up for her inexperience in her first title fight, making it to the final bell with flexibility and composure.
With that fight now in the rearview mirror, what are Serrano’s options for 2026?
Serrano’s immediate plans are to remain at featherweight, where he is undefeated.
“There’s a lot of new girls, new champions at featherweight, so it’s a good thing to see,” Serrano said during her postfight interview. “Maybe one day we’ll all get together and fight each other. I’m the unified featherweight champion, and there are other champions out there.”
Although there is no opponent that comes close to Taylor’s profile, there are several options for Serrano’s next fight.
It’s unlikely Serrano will try to become undisputed at featherweight He vacated the WBC title In protest of the organization’s refusal to sanction women’s fights fought under men’s rules of three-minute rounds, which wipes out a potential unification fight with WBC title holder Tiara Brown. Serrano’s priority has been to see women’s boxing compete under the same rules as men’s.
Serrano could instead seek a unification fight with IBF champion Nina Meinke (19-3, 4 KOs). Serrano was originally scheduled to face Meineke in December 2023, but the fight was canceled at the last minute Serrano declared “medically unfit” By the Puerto Rican Boxing Commission due to an eye injury.
Serrano could also be ordered to face interim WBA titleholder Jennifer Miranda, who recently suffered the first defeat of her career when she challenged then-undisputed junior lightweight champion Alicia Baumgardner in July.
Serrano’s original opponent for Saturday is also Erica Cruz, who was eliminated After his drug test yielded adverse resultsSerrano and Cruz had a highly entertaining and bloody fight in 2023, which Serrano won via unanimous decision, Cruz called out Serrano in a Facebook post shortly after the Tellez fight,
“Me and my team knew she didn’t want to fight me and tonight I confirmed that Amanda didn’t want to fight someone like me,” Cruz said in a post translated from Spanish. “It’s called fear.”
Given his desire to keep fighting, Serrano will have no shortage of opponents. At the age of 37, she proved that she is still one of the most exciting female boxers in the sport and that she still has a lot left in her life. She needs two knockouts to break Martin’s record and two more wins to reach 50 as she enters the final stages of her highly decorated career.
