Amanda Serrano successfully defended her WBA and WBO featherweight titles with a dominant unanimous decision victory over Reina Tellez on Saturday night at Coliseo Roberto Clemente in her hometown of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Two judges scored the fight 97-93, and the third judge scored it 98-92. The fight was contracted for 10 three-minute rounds in accordance with men’s boxing rules.
Serrano (48-4-1, 30 KO) returned to the wins in her natural weight class after losing two straight fights to Katie Taylor in the junior welterweight division.
“It’s an amazing feeling [to fight in Puerto Rico]but it’s even better to be back at 126 pounds,” Serrano said. “It’s been two years since I fought at that weight. So the next fights will be much, much better. I feel like I finally put on a show for the fans.”
Tellez (13-1-1) agreed to the fight on 15 days’ notice after Serrano’s original opponent, Erika Cruz, was pulled from the fight after she tested positive for an unfavorable drug test last month. It was a huge step up in competition for the 22-year-old Tellez, but she made a powerful name for herself despite being outclassed by Serrano, the seven-division world champion.
“I’ve never gone 10 rounds, let alone three minutes, and I did it with one of the best in the world,” Tellez said. “Against someone I’ve idolized my whole life, I stood there and fought to the end. So whatever anyone had to say about me, go to sleep. I stayed focused and showed them what’s going on tonight.”
The difference in skill and experience was evident after the first bell, as Serrano marched forward and bounced combinations off Tellez. But Tellez’s resilience stopped Serrano from crushing her and even caused swelling under the champion’s right eye, albeit from an accidental clash of heads.
Serrano’s swarming attack began to work cautiously as the swelling built in the middle rounds, but her corner prevented her from closing her eye and the champion resumed her substantial offensive in the second half of the fight.
In Round 5, Serrano began working on Tellez’s body, but the challenger persisted, fighting her tormentor. Although there was a gigantic lead on the scorecards heading into the final round, Serrano pursued the knockout and rocked Tellez with a variety of punches and body combinations. However, Tellez made it to the final bell, avoided becoming Serrano’s 31st knockout victim, and secured future opportunities under the Most Valuable Promotions banner with her performance.
At the age of 37, Serrano made it clear that her career would continue and that she would remain in her natural weight class, but she refrained from calling anyone out.
“There are a lot of recent girls and recent champions in the featherweight division,” Serrano said of the division that includes WBC champion Tiara Brown and IBF titleholder Nina Meinke. “Maybe one day we’ll all get together and just fight each other. I’m the unified featherweight champion, and there are other champions.”
In the co-main event, Stephanie Han (12-0, 3 KO) defended her WBA lightweight title with a unanimous technical decision over Holly Holm (34-3-3, 9 KO) after she accidentally headbutted Han in the right eye in round 7 and the ringside doctor prevented her from continuing the fight.
The judges scored the fight 69-65, 69-64 and 68-65. The fight was fought under men’s rules and lasted 10 three-minute rounds.
Han made her second defense of her title and from the second round she dominated the fight with her volume and counter right hand. Han outshot Holm 87-29 and was in control of the game as she began monitoring her opponent’s attacks.
Holm, 44, signed with Most Valuable Promotions last year after a successful career as an MMA fighter, in which she became the UFC bantamweight champion following a stunning knockout of Ronda Rousey in 2015. She won her first boxing match in over a decade, defeating Yolanda Vega by unanimous decision in June.
On Saturday night, however, she wasn’t able to attack much beyond the occasional left hand as the 35-year-old Han used her speed to neutralize the former three-division champion.
