Amanda Serrano

Amanda Serrano (born October 9, 1988) is a Puerto Rican (American) professional boxer, mixed martial artist and professional wrestler.[1] As a boxer, she is the unified featherweight world champion, having held the WBO title since 2019 and the WBC title since February 2021. She is the only female, and Puerto Rican, to win world titles in more than four weight classes, and holds the Guinness World Record for the most boxing world championships won in different weight-classes by a female, having held 9 major world titles across seven different weight classes.[2][3][nb 1][4] Her older sister, Cindy, is also a professional boxer. The pair became the first sisters to hold world titles from major sanctioning bodies at the same time after Cindy won the WBO featherweight title in 2016.[5]

Amanda Serrano
Serrano with the IBF super featherweight title
Statistics
Nickname(s)	The Real Deal
Weight(s)	Super flyweight Bantamweight Super bantamweight Featherweight Super featherweight Lightweight Light welterweight
Height	5 ft 5 ^1⁄2 in (166 cm)
Reach	65 ^1⁄2 in (166 cm)
Nationality	Puerto Rican (American)
Born	October 9, 1988 Carolina, Puerto Rico
Stance	Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights	41
Wins	39
Wins by KO	29
Losses	1
Draws	1

Serrano has been recognized with the Female Boxer of the Year Award twice (2016 and 2018) by the WBO, an entity that also granted her the first "Super World Championship" awarded to a woman.[6] As of September 2020, she is ranked as the world's best active female featherweight by The Ring[7] and BoxRec,[8] and the third best active female, pound for pound, by ESPN,[9] and fifth by The Ring.[7]

Early life and introduction to boxing

Serrano was born in the municipality of Carolina, where her sister Cindy was also born.[10] Her grandparents were born in the municipality of Carolina. When she was young, the family moved to New York and joined the large Puerto Rican diaspora there (colloquially known as Nuyoricans).[10] Surrounded by this community, she grew up in an oasis of Puerto Rican culture in which traditional food and salsa music were predominant.[10] Her upbringing was reflected in the manner in which she speaks Spanish, in a dialect with a distinct accent often attributed to that population, and her ability to fluidly speak English.[10] The family lived in Brooklyn, where she continued to live well into adulthood.[10] During her youth she was an active child, with a distinct passion for swimming.[10] After her sister began boxing training intending to lose weight by attending the gym of her husband Jordan Maldonado, the 12-year old Serrano accompanied her there. She continued frequenting the facility and eventually got her first job there.[10]

Initially Serrano was not as interested in the sport, not even attending a family event to watch the Oscar De La Hoya vs. Félix Trinidad fight, but she was an avid follower of Cindy's career and developed a passion for it as she grew older.[10] When she graduated from Bushwick High School (located in Bushwick, Brooklyn and closed in 2006) at the age of 17, she decided to begin training as a method to buy things and bond with her sister.[10] Her father supported her decision, but her mother was hesitant until she began earning success and saw it as a way for the elder sister to retire after having her second child.[10] Cindy, knowing that she had already been frustrated during a previous sparring session against a boy, intended to dissuade her by stepping into the ring but the younger sister proved that she could defend herself competently.[11] Admittedly shy, Serrano choose to continue in Maldonado's small gym in Queens with him as trainer, so that the flow of people was controlled and she could focus on her training.[10] Serrano's amateur career was brief and concluded with a record of only 9–1,[12] but she won the Staten Island amateur championship in 2008.[13] From there she competed in the featherweight division of the New York Daily News Golden Gloves, where she defeated Glenyss Puentevella by referee stopping contest (RSC, the International Boxing Association's equivalent of a technical knockout) in the semifinal and decisioned USA Boxing's national champion Jody-Ann Weller in the final.[13]

Professional boxing career

Serrano is managed and trained by noted female American professional boxing trainer Jordan Maldonado of New York City. Serrano is Boxing 360's first world champion.[14]

Super featherweight world championship

Amanda won the inaugural IBF super-featherweight title with a second round stoppage over Kimberly Connor, who had not lost a fight in seven years. In the second round, Serrano began landing power shots to the head, sending Connor to the canvas on her back midway through the round. Connor beat the count, but appeared helpless on the ropes as Serrano immediately battered her senseless and defenseless with numerous power shots to the head, forcing referee Benjy Esteves Jr. to stop the contest. The rounds were two-minute rounds, and the bout was scheduled for ten.

NABF Featherweight championship

On June 11, 2011, Amanda defeated Jennifer Scott to capture the vacant NABF featherweight champion. The bout was scheduled for 8 rounds, but the match was cut quick by Serrano knocked out Scott in 1:04 in round 1.

IBF Super featherweight championship

In the main event of an eight bout card held at Aviator Arena in Brooklyn promoted by Havoc Boxing Promotions, undefeated Amanda Serrano won the inaugural International Boxing Federation Super Featherweight title with a second round stoppage over Kimberly Connor, who had not lost a fight in seven years. The first round was even, with both fighters attempting to do body work on the inside in center ring, but ineffectively. Connor also fought off the ropes with some right hand lead counters to the head, but Serrano was not fazed. In the second round, Serrano began landing power shots to the head, sending Connor to the canvas on her back midway through the round. Connor beat the count, but appeared helpless on the ropes as Serrano immediately battered her senseless and defenseless with numerous power shots to the head, forcing referee Benjy Esteves Jr. to stop the contest. Two minute rounds, scheduled for ten. According to Boxing 360 CEO Dr. Mario Yagobi, Serrano's promoter, negotiations were underway for Serrano to fight an IBF-WBC unification match with WBC female Super Featherweight champion Frida Wallberg of Sweden in early 2012. Serrano sparred for this fight with her sister Cindy Serrano, training for her upcoming female world welterweight title bout with Anne Sophie Mathis. The Serrano sisters are both trained by Jordan Maldonado. Serrano's originally scheduled opponent, Fatuma Zarika of Kenya, was unable to leave that country to get to the United States due to visa problems.[15]

WBC Featherweight Championship

On April 27, 2012, Serrano faced the undefeated Frida Wallberg in Cloetta Center, Linköping, Sweden. The WBC against mandatory rules allowed the bout to be contested with 10 ounce gloves instead of the mandatory 8 ounce for that division. Serrano came up short losing a controversial unanimous decision to Wallberg. The referee was Victor Loughlin and the judges were Gudjon Vilhelm 93-98 | judge: Venciclav Nikolov 93-97 | judge: Franco Ciminale 94–96.

WIBA featherweight world championship

On February 16, 2013, Puerto Rican female star Amanda 'The Real Deal' Serrano (17-1-1, 12 KO's) was once again crowned world champion, capturing the WIBA featherweight title with a first-round knockout of Wanda Pena (8-5, 2 KO's) at Gran Arena del Cibao, Santiago de los Caballeros in the Dominican Republic. The WIBA (Women's International Boxing Association) was the Original boxing organization known for its staging of female championship fights.[16]

Her first fight in Puerto Rico was attended by a contingent of family members from Carolina, a situation that combined with the fan reception led to an emotive introduction.[10]

Mixed martial arts career

Amanda Serrano
Born	October 9, 1988 Carolina, Puerto Rico
Other names	The Real Deal
Height	5 ft 5 in (165 cm)
Weight	122 lb (55 kg; 8 st 10 lb)
Team	Real Deal Fight Team
Years active	2018–present (MMA)
Mixed martial arts record
Total	2
Wins	1
By knockout	0
By submission	1
By decision	0
Losses	0
By submission	0
By decision	0
Draws	1
Other information
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

Training

Since early 2015, Serrano quietly worked towards debuting in mixed martial arts (MMA), beginning by incorporating kicks to her training.[17] The idea emerged after she participated in the filming of Fight Valley along her sister, meeting Miesha Tate, Holly Holm, and Cristiane Justino and learned of the lifestyle that they could afford. This triggered the interest of people involved in MMA and she was approached and told about the economic potential of the move.[10] When queried about the matter, Serrano expressed additional motivation due to the absence of a Puerto Rican female fighter in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) at the moment.[18]

With the consent of her boxing trainer Jordan Maldonado, Serrano continued her introduction to kickboxing, citing a general lack of money for women in boxing.[19] By the summer of 2016, Serrano admitted that she had seriously considered retiring to take up MMA due to frustration with the state of the business, but that being able to appear in ShoBox changed that.[20] Instead, she began working towards becoming the first person to hold both boxing and MMA titles at once, setting her debut for late 2017. Towards this goal, she continued training in kickboxing under former world champion Luis Ruiz and incorporated Brazilian jiujitsu working with brown belt Gabriel Marte at the Dojo NYC.[21][22]

Public challenge to Ronda Rousey

On July 31, 2015, Ronda Rousey's trainer, Edmond Tarverdyan, expressed the belief that his fighter "can win the boxing world title" while discussing a potential fight with Justino.[23] After noting that "Ronda spars with boxing world champions that punch way harder than Cyborg", Tarverdyan claimed that she "has never lost a round in the gym. A round. With boxing world champions".[23] Within a week, Serrano responded by stating that "Rousey's trainer does not have any knowledge about the sport of boxing. She is a very good fighter in the Octagon, and I really congratulate her for everything she has done. Her opponents cannot box and it's easy to look great, but when facing a high quality boxer with punching power as myself, believe me, things are gonna change. In a boxing ring, the canvas will be your comfort zone".[24]

She went on to criticize Rousey's stand-up fighting technique and challenging her to a boxing match, stating that "[from a] boxing point of view, she looked like a rookie amateur fighter, throwing very wide punches with no coordination. I heard that Cyborg is not willing to come down to the lightweight division to fight Ronda, but I can go up to 135, and we can settle a boxing match so I can prove her trainer wrong. I once went up to the lightweight division, and traveled to Argentina for a world title fight. At the end, the results was that I became the first ever Puerto Rican female boxer to captured a world title in two weight classes".[24] Serrano's trainer noted that they "do not challenge other fighting styles." And that the reason for calling out Rousey was because they "represent boxing and [...] want to get some respect." by showing "Edmond Tarverdyan how wrong he is about boxing".[24]

Combate Americas

In December 2017, Serrano announced that she had signed with Combate Americas, a MMA promotion that mostly featured Latin American fighters in its roster.[25] Her debut was scheduled for April 13, 2018, when she drew with Corina Herrera after winning the first two rounds but losing the third when forced to the floor.[26] Afterwards, Serrano focused on grappling.[27] This training was put to the test on August 18, 2018, when she won gold in her first career jiu jitsu tournament, a Grappling Industries event held at New York where she gathered four submissions.[28] After winning a sixth world championship in boxing, it was announced that MMA would be Serrano's focus in the foreseeable future due to better salaries.[29]

On October 13, 2018, Serrano won her second fight by submitting Eréndina Ordóñez with a standing rear naked choke in the first round.[30] In February 2019, she participated in her second jiu jitsu competition, defeating Erin Finkeldey in her only bout.[31] Serrano is scheduled to headline her third MMA event, this one in Puerto Rico, on January 25, 2020.[32]

Professional wrestling career

At the same time that she made her involvement in MMA public, an interest in potentially joining World Wrestling Entertainment (now abbreviated to simply WWE) as a Diva (a category since dropped and replaced with the more generic "Female Superstars") was noted.[18] In 2019, Serrano revealed that she had been training under Jonathan Figueroa (known by his ring name Amazing Red) to become a professional wrestler and that she would be performing for a promotion soon.[33]

Professional boxing record

Professional record summary

41 fights	39 wins	1 loss
By knockout	29	0
By decision	10	1
Draws	1

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
42	N/A	N/A	Daniela Romina Bermúdez	N/A	– (10)	Mar 25, 2021	Plaza del Quinto Centenario, San Juan, Puerto Rico	Defending WBC and WBO female featherweight titles
41	Win	39–1–1	Dahiana Santana	TKO	1 (8), 2:37	Dec 16, 2020	Hotel Catalonia Malecon Center, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
40	Win	38–1–1	Simone Da Silva	TKO	3 (8), 2:37	Jan 30, 2020	Meridian at Island Gardens, Miami, Florida, U.S.
39	Win	37–1–1	Heather Hardy	UD	10	Sep 13, 2019	Madison Square Garden Theater, New York City, New York, U.S.	Won WBO, vacant WBAN and WBC interim featherweight titles
38	Win	36–1–1	Eva Voraberger	TKO	1 (10), 0:35	Jan 18, 2019	Madison Square Garden Theater, New York City, New York, U.S.	Won vacant WBO junior bantamweight title
37	Win	35–1–1	Yamila Esther Reynoso	UD	10	Sep 8, 2018	Barclays Center, New York City, New York, U.S.	Won vacant WBO junior welterweight title
36	Win	34–1–1	Marilyn Hernandez	TKO	1 (10), 2:38	Nov 4, 2017	Barclays Center, New York City, New York, U.S.
35	Win	33–1–1	Edina Kiss	TKO	3 (10), 1:00	Jul 21, 2017	Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel & Casino, San Juan, Puerto Rico	Retained WBO female junior featherweight title
34	Win	32–1–1	Dahiana Santana	TKO	8 (10), 1:14	Apr 22, 2017	Barclays Center, New York City, New York, U.S.	Won vacant WBO female bantamweight title
33	Win	31–1–1	Yazmín Rivas	UD	10	Jan 14, 2017	Barclays Center, New York City, New York, U.S.	Retained WBO female junior featherweight title; Won vacant WBAN junior featherweight
32	Win	30–1–1	Alexandra Lazar	TKO	5 (10), 1:10	Oct 18, 2016	Hotel Caribe Hilton, San Juan, Puerto Rico	Won vacant WBO female junior featherweight title
31	Win	29–1–1	Calixta Silgado	TKO	1 (10), 1:10	Jul 30, 2016	Barclays Center, New York City, New York, U.S.	Retained WBO female featherweight title
30	Win	28–1–1	Edina Kiss	TKO	4 (8), 1:20	Apr 22, 2016	Cancha Rubén Zayas Montañez, Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico
29	Win	27–1–1	Olivia Gerula	TKO	1 (10), 1:50	Feb 17, 2016	BB King Blues Club & Grill, New York City, New York, U.S.	Won vacant WBO female featherweight title
28	Win	26–1–1	Djemilla Gontaruk	TKO	3 (8)	Nov 20, 2015	Aviator Sports Complex, New York City, New York, U.S.
27	Win	25–1–1	Fatuma Zarika	UD	6	Sep 10, 2015	The Space at Westbury, Westbury, New York, U.S.
26	Win	24–1–1	Fatuma Zarika	UD	6	May 29, 2015	W.C. Handy Pavilion, Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
25	Win	23–1–1	Marisol Reyes	TKO	3 (8)	Feb 21, 2015	Sosua Convention Center, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
24	Win	22–1–1	Carla Torres	TKO	1 (6)	Nov 13, 2014	The Space at Westbury, Westbury, New York, U.S.
23	Win	21–1–1	Maria Elena Maderna	KO	6 (10), 1:26	Aug 15, 2014	Estadio F.A.B., Buenos Aires, Argentina	Won WBO female lightweight title
22	Win	20–1–1	Diana Garcia	TKO	1 (8)	Sep 29, 2013	Gimnasio Boxing Factory, Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic
21	Win	19–1–1	Kerri Hill	TKO	2 (6)	Sep 21, 2013	Resorts World Casino, New York City, New York, U.S.
20	Win	18–1–1	Dominga Olivo	TKO	3 (6)	Jun 29, 2013	Resorts World Casino, New York City, New York, U.S.
19	Win	17–1–1	Wanda Pena Ozuna	TKO	1 (10)	Feb 16, 2013	Gran Arena del Cibao, Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic	Won vacant UBF female, and WIBA featherweight titles
18	Win	16–1–1	Lina Tejada	TKO	1 (8)	Dec 15, 2012	Sosua Bay Grand Casino, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic	Won vacant UBF InterContinental female super featherweight title
17	Win	15–1–1	Grecia Nova	TKO	1 (6)	Sep 16, 2012	Club Pueblo Nuevo, Villa Duarte, Dominican Republic
16	Loss	14–1–1	Frida Wallberg	UD	10	Apr 27, 2012	Cloetta Center, Linköping, Sweden	For WBC female super featherweight title
15	Win	14–0–1	Ela Nunez	UD	8	Feb 17, 2012	Cicero Stadium 1909 S. Laramie, Cicero, Illinois, U.S.
14	Win	13–0–1	Grecia Nova	TKO	5 (8)	Nov 18, 2011	Hotel Jaragua, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
13	Win	12–0–1	Kimberly Connor	TKO	2 (10)	Sep 10, 2011	Aviator Sports Complex, New York City, New York, U.S.	Won vacant IBF female super featherweight title
12	Win	11–0–1	Diana Garcia	TKO	1 (8)	Aug 6, 2011	Parque del Este, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
11	Win	10–0–1	Jennifer Scott	TKO	1 (8)	Jun 11, 2011	Roseland Ballroom, New York City, New York, U.S.	Won vacant WBC-NABF female featherweight title
10	Win	9–0–1	Ela Nunez	TKO	4 (6)	Apr 22, 2011	Fairgrounds Event Center, Hamburg, New York, U.S.
9	Win	8–0–1	Ela Nunez	UD	6	Jan 29, 2011	Turning Stone Resort & Casino, Verona, New York, U.S.
8	Win	7–0–1	Jennifer Encarnacion	RTD	4 (6)	Sep 18, 2010	Coliseo Carlos 'Teo' Cruz, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
7	Win	6–0–1	Nydia Feliciano	UD	6	Jun 4, 2010	Tropicana Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
6	Win	5–0–1	Lucia Larcinese	UD	6	Feb 26, 2010	Turning Stone Resort & Casino, Verona, New York, U.S.
5	Draw	4–0–1	Ela Nunez	SD	4	Nov 20, 2009	Taj Majal Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
4	Win	4–0	Christina Ruiz	TKO	2 (4)	Jul 31, 2009	Resorts Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
3	Win	3–0	Carolina Martinez	TKO	1 (4)	Jun 29, 2009	Coliseo Carlos 'Teo' Cruz, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
2	Win	2–0	Brittany Cruz	KO	1 (4)	May 9, 2009	DoubleTree Hotel, Orlando, Florida, U.S.
1	Win	1–0	Jackie Trivilino	MD	4	Mar 20, 2009	Washington Avenue Armory, Albany, New York, U.S.

Personal life

After becoming a full-time boxer, Serrano adopted a monk-like routine that required not purchasing a cell phone (or any other device that allowed text messages and the sort) to avoid distractions and avoiding getting involved with boyfriends.[10] When asked about it, she insisted that there would be time for that in the future, after carving a legacy.[10] Serrano has noted that one of the prime movers in her boxing career has been to pursue records in possession of foreign athletes and securing them for Puerto Rico (for example, wanting to win a title in a sixth division so that a local could have bragging rights to more divisions than Floyd Mayweather Jr. or wanting to complete concurrent crossovers between sports).[10]

See also

• List of Puerto Rican boxing world champions
• List of boxing septuple champions

References

Notes

1. Serrano has won titles at super flyweight, bantamweight, super bantamweight, featherweight, super featherweight, lightweight and light welterweight.

Footnotes

1. "Amanda Serrano Wins IBF Title for Boxing 360 on Tribute Card". Saddoboxing.com. Retrieved 2016-02-04.
2. "With KO, Serrano a champ in 5 divisions". ESPN. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
4. "Amanda Serrano Ties Cotto, Demolishes Lazar For WBO Title". BoxingScene.
5. Fleming, Kirsten (April 22, 2017). "Boxing star's sister once beat her up to discourage her from the sport". New York Post. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
7. "The Ring Women's Ratings". The Ring. 8 September 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
8. "BoxRec: Female featherweight ratings". boxrec.com. Retrieved 2020-06-24.
9. "Women's boxing pound-for-pound rankings: Did Katie Taylor do enough to take over the No. 1 spot?". ESPN.com. 26 August 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
10. "Amanda Serrano: "Soy mujer, pero soy boxeadora primero"". Elnuevodia.com. 9 July 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
11. Fleming, Kirsten (22 April 2017). "Boxing star's sister once beat her up to discourage her from the sport". New York Post. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
12. "Junior Featherweight World Champion Amanda Serrano Meets Former Two-Division World Champion Yazmin Rivas Live on SHOWTIME EXTREME". Mayweatherpromotions.com. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
13. "Women's Boxing: Amanda Serrano Biography". Womenboxing.com. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
14. "AMANDA SERRANO WINS BOXING 360'S FIRST WORLD TITLE". Fighthype.Com. 2011-09-13. Retrieved 2016-02-04.
15. "Fight:1610901". BoxRec.com. Retrieved 2016-02-04.
16. "Amanda Serrano Stops Wanda Pena in One, Wins Gold - Boxing News". Boxingscene.com. 2013-02-17. Retrieved 2016-02-04.
17. José Bartolomei. "Tras los pasos de Holly Holm". Elvocero.com. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
19. "Amanda Serrano probará suerte en Artes Marciales Mixtas". Zonadeboxeo.com. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
20. "Amanda Serrano nearly retired from boxing to take up MMA - The Ring". Ringtv.com. 5 January 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
21. "Amanda Serrano no descarta pelear MMA". Notice1.com. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
22. "Amanda Serrano inicia entrenamientos de MMA". Tabdeported.news. 28 June 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
23. Marc Raimondi (2015-07-31). "Coach: Ronda Rousey would win the women's boxing world title". MMAFighting.com. Retrieved 2015-08-04.
24. "Amanda Serrano Blasts Ronda Rousey's Trainer". RoundbyRoundBoxing.com. 2015-08-03. Retrieved 2015-08-04.
25. "Amanda Serrano oficializa su salto a las artes marciales mixtas". 6 December 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
26. "Boxing champ Amanda Serrano goes to draw with Corina Herrera in MMA debut". www.mmafighting.com. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
27. "Amanda Serrano se afilará en torneo de Jiu-Jitsu brasileño". 12 June 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
28. "Amanda Serrano: Draw in MMA debut changed her 'outlook on the sport'". www.mmafighting.com. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
30. "Adiccion Deportiva - Amanda Serrano luce impresionante en Combate Américas". adicciondeportiva.net. Retrieved 15 October 2018.

External links

• Boxing record for Amanda Serrano from BoxRec