It was a dream return for Amanda Serrano in her homecoming fight at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico, save one small detail. For Holly Holm, her dream is hanging by a thread.
The seven-division champion and pound-for-pound great Serrano (48-4, 31 KOs) was breezing through her fight against the young and hungry undefeated prospect Reina Tellez of San Antonio (13-1, 5 KOs).
Tellez held her own and demonstrated impressive stamina as she faced Serrano’s high-volume power punching output during the three-minute rounds. Tellez landed solid shots of her own, but she simply didn’t have the output or accuracy of the hard-hitting champion.
Sadly, an accidental headbutt caused an ugly shiner under Serrano’s right eye, forcing her to raise her guard and back off to pick her shots behind her jab.
But in the final round, Serrano threw caution to the wind in her quest to break her tie with Christy Martin’s record of 31 knockouts. The arena rose to its feet to cheer on Puerto Rico’s best active boxer.
Serrano couldn’t deliver the knockout she wanted, settling for the victory in front of her fans by unanimous decision. Scorecards read 98-92, 97-93, and 97-93.
Serrano Delivers Her Best At Featherweight
As Serrano heads for the end of a record-breaking career as one of the greatest women ever to lace up gloves, every fight is meaningful. Fighting at her natural weight division after losses in two fights at super lightweight against Katie Taylor, Serrano leverages much more power at featherweight.
“It feels better to be back at 126. The next fight will be much, much better. I gave the fans a show. I’m super happy!” said Serrano.
Tellez showed she was game. She took the fight on just two weeks’ notice, although she wasn’t able to make weight. “I took the whole experience. I’ve never been ten rounds let alone three minutes, and I just did that against one of the best in the world, somebody I’ve idolized my whole life. And I stood in there and I fought it to the end.
“So whatever anybody had to say about me, go to bed. I stayed focused, and I showed them what’s up,” declared Tellez, calling it a learning experience.
Asked what motivated her, Tellez laughed, “I got a Ph.D – that’s poor, hungry, and driven.”
Still, Tellez held her own in the loss. The learning opportunity is there for her benefit as she progresses in the sport. Serrano called Tellez a warrior and told her she would get more opportunities to fight with Most Valuable Promotions, who liked what they saw.
Serrano expressed satisfaction in fighting ten three-minute rounds. “Look, we did it! Ten threes. We’re still breathing, we’re still here. We adjusted for the three minutes, and we did it.
“I just hope one day all the organizations and everybody can come together and give us the equality as men, we can keep proving it every day,” said Serrano.
For Serrano, 13 years into her professional career, it’s all about legacy both in and out of the ring. She intends to remain in the featherweight division, noting there are several new champions including IBF champion Nina Meinke of Germany and undefeated WBC champion Tiara Brown. Serrano said she would leave that choice to her team.
Headbutt Cuts Fight Short in Han Victory Over Holly Holm
Undefeated WBA World Lightweight champion Stephanie Han of El Paso (12-0, 3 KOs) was well on her way to a win through seven rounds against former three-division champion Holly Holm of Albuquerque (34-3, 9 KOs) in her second fight after returning to boxing from a sensational MMA career at age 44.
Then a head clash occurred between the southpaw and orthodox fighters, opening a gash high on Han’s forehead. Referee Luis Pabon saw fit to stop the fight and go to the scorecards with the advice of the ringside physician at 44 seconds into round seven. Scores were 69-65, 69-65, and 68-65 for Han.
“Obviously, I wanted to go the distance. But things like this happen in boxing. I’m so happy. You have no idea,” said Han.
Han dominated through the early rounds with her excellent power punches and higher work rate, a bit of a surprise given that Han is not used to fighting three-minute rounds while Holm has experience with five-minute MMA rounds.
Holm couldn’t keep up with the determined Han. Still, you never count out a former champion and all-time great like Holm with three rounds to go.
Han Calls for Rematch
Han said it wasn’t the way she wanted to win, but it was a win nevertheless. Thanking Holm, Han showed her the respect her opponent has earned. “Holly, you’re an absolute legend. If you want a rematch, let’s do it in El Paso. Let’s do it in Albuquerque. I would love the opportunity to fight you again the whole distance of the rounds. Hey, I have nothing but respect for you. You’re an absolute legend. I’ve always looked up to you,” said Han.
“Look at her. She’s a freaking athlete. She’s a freak of nature,” added Han. “She has nothing to be ashamed of. She is doing things that only people could dream of.”
Holm could not hide her disappointment. “Not being able to finish, it is the hardest part. But she had a lot of volume.
“I was waiting for those later rounds to kind of take over. And can’t do that when things can happen. I didn’t want it to end like that.” Holm said she’d be game for a rematch. With the two rivals from hometowns less than 300 miles apart, it’s a must.
Undercard Upsets By Gonzalez and Araiza
Former WBO junior flyweight champion Jonathan “Bomba” Gonzalez (29-4-1, 14 KOs) took Tokyo 2020 Olympian Yankiel Rivera of Puerto Rico (7-1-1, 3 KOs) to school, scoring an early knockdown and dominating the fight to win the vacant WBA interim flyweight belt by majority decision. Scores were 117-110 and 116-111 for Gonzalez, and a headscratcher 114-113 for Rivera.
Gonzalez was awarded the $25,000 fight of the night bonus. “Whooooooaaaaa!” shouted Gonzalez learning about the award. “I’m glad, I want to come back with MVP and be a legit world champion one more time.
“When I became a world champion, I was an underdog. When I came here, I was an underdog. You can’t underestimate Bomba Gonzalez … and the new!”
Gonzalez said before the fight he wouldn’t make it easy on the highly regarded prospect Rivera, and he was good to his word. He had far too much firepower for Rivera and bullied him throughout. Gonzalez keeps his dream of becoming a two-time world champion alive.
Rivera couldn’t find any adjustments when Gonzalez took charge and maintained the upper hand in the fight. Was Rivera moved along too quickly? Perhaps, but now he needs to absorb the lessons learned Saturday and move forward.
In another upset, former bantamweight champion Australia native Ebanie Bridges, now based in Leeds, England (9-3, 4 KOs) took a decision loss in her return to the ring after two years off to former Golden Gloves champion Alexis Araiza of Fort Worth (4-2, 1 KO). Scores were 80-72, 78-74, and 78-74.
Araiza, who stayed busy in single-round Team Combat League competition with the Dallas Enforcers, was thrilled to get the opportunity to fight a former world champion. The eight-to-one underdog did not let it slip through her fingers. She took the fight to Bridges and set a relentless pace. Bridges had little choice except to engage, and the action was on through all eight rounds. They gave the fans a tremendous fight.
“This is a chance that most fighters – we pray, we wish for for years, and never comes,” said Araiza. Both women are mothers, and Araiza said they had to be the right kind of crazy. “I’m a mom, so I knew it was going to be a great fight.”
Bridges said her motivation has changed from seeking titles. She wanted to prove she could come back and felt she accomplished this goal. “I wanted to represent for all the mums, and I think I did just getting back in here,” said Bridges, admitting she was nervous before the fight for the first time in her boxing career.
Holding her son, Bridges said, “It would be nice to have a win, but she was a great dance partner. You know, we sit in the middle of the ring, and I think we entertained. You know? I knew it was gonna be hard. It was hard.”
Puerto Rican prospect Krystal Rosado (8-1, 2 KOs) demonstrated that she’d learned from her recent loss, taking Tania Walters of Toronto (7-4, 2 KOs) to the woodshed with her power punches to win all six rounds on all three scorecards. “I came with everything. I worked out really hard with my team. But the most important thing was a completely different mentality,” said Rosado of her win.
Gayle Falkenthal is an award-winning boxing journalist and the only woman journalist who is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA). She is the Managing Editor for NY Fights based in San Diego, California.