HISTORY OF
WOMEN'S BOXING

5'5" featherweight Amanda Serrano was born on October 9, 1988 in  Puerto Rico but was raised in Brooklyn, New York, USA.   Amanda's entry into the world of boxing was unusual in that her older sister Cindy is also a professional boxer, and Amanda fell in love with the sport by watching Cindy fight.

At first, Cindy and her trainer Jordan Maldonado tried to dissuade Amanda from following in Cindy's footsteps, and arranged for Amanda to spar with a boy who would go all out. Amanda reportedly left her first boxing experience crying but she kept coming back to the gym for more.   Amanda Serrano was hooked on boxing, and began fighting competitively as an amateur. 

In 2008, she won the Staten Island amateur championship and fought in the 81st New York Daily News Golden Gloves.  On March 28, 2008 she dispensed enough punches to cause two standing eight-counts on Glenyss Puentevella in the 125-pound semifinal, and the bout was stopped at 1:07 of the third round.  On April 18, 2008 in the 125-lb final at Madison Square Garden, Amanda spent a lot of the fight locked up close with 5'8" Jody-Ann Weller (New York Boxing Gym) they while traded uppercuts, but whenever Serrano got a little space, she popped Weller with lefts and rights for the win.

Amanda Serrano made her pro debut on March 20, 2009 at the Washington Avenue Armory in Albany, New York.  She weighed in at 127½ lbs and won a four-round majority (40-36,39-37,39-39) decision over fellow pro debuter Jackie (Jaci) Trivilino (5'4", 126 lbs) of Plattsburgh, New York.

On May 9, 2009 at the Doubletree Hotel in Orlando, Florida, Amanda (125 lbs) knocked out Brittany Cruz (124 lbs) of Thornton, Colorado at 2:43 in the first round of a scheduled four-rounder, dropping Cruz's pro record to 3-2 (1 KO).  (Cruz is from another boxing family, with former WIBA and IFBA champion Terri Lynn Cruz being her aunt.)

On June 29, 2009 at Coliseo Carlos 'Teo' Cruz in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Amanda (126 lbs)  TKO'd Carpolna Martinez (5'2", 124 lbs) of Santo Domingo in the first round of a scheduled four-rounder. Martinez fell to 3-9-2 (1 KO).

On July 31, 2009 at Resorts Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Amanda (126 lbs) TKO'd Christina Ruiz (126 lbs) of San Antonio, Texas in the second round of a scheduled four-rounder. Serrano dropped Ruiz twice in the opening round, first with a right hook, and then with a straight left, before finishing her with a three-punch combo in round two. Ruiz fell to 1-1 (1 KO) with the loss.

On November 20, 2009 at the Taj Mahal Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Amanda (128½ lbs) fought to a four-round split  (39-37,37-39,38-38) draw with Ela Nunez (132 lbs) of Jamestown, New York.  Nunez, who has fought such top flight opponents as Melissa Hernandez, Rhonda Luna, Lindsay Garbatt, Missy Fiorentino and Kina Malpartida, moved her pro record to 9-5-1 (2 KO's). Serrano had taken the fight at one week's notice.  

Amanda was named WBAN Rookie of the Year for 2009 in our annual end-of-year awards, with the citation "Not only did Amanda Serrano fight five times in 2009 as a rookie, but she took on significant competition.  In her last fight in 2009, she took on a very tough opponent Ela Nunez (the boxer who stopped the now world champion Kina Malpartida in 2007).  Serrano had a four-round draw against Nunez.  Serrano also moved around to outside venues to fight some of her opponents, including traveling to the Dominican Republic for one of her fights."

On February 26, 2010 at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino, Verona, New York, Amanda (126½ lbs) won a six-round unanimous (58-56,58-56,59-54) decision over Lucia Larcinese (127 lbs) of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, who fell to 4-5 (0 KO's).  Larcinese started slowly and Serrano won the early rounds but Larcinese showed ring management and finished stronger as Serrano appeared to tire. Larcinese's ability to slip to the side frustrated Serrano: "Amanda spent too much time chasing her around the ring instead of cutting her off,” Maldonado told Michael Rivest after the fight. “She’ll never make that mistake again.”

On June 4, 2010 at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Amanda Serrano (124 lbs) won a six-round unanimous (60-54,60-54,59-55) decision over undefeated Nydia Feliciano (122 lbs) of the Bronx, New York.  Serrano won every round on two judges' scorecards using effective combinations to the body of Feliciano followed by powerful shots to the head. The two female fighters drew a standing ovation at the end of their exciting bout. “She came to fight, Feliciano did,” said  trainer Jordan Maldonado. “She took a beating and kept on fighting.”  Feliciano fell to 2-1-2 (0 KO's) with her first pro loss. 

On September 18, 2010 at Coliseo Carlos 'Teo' Cruz in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Amanda Serrano (126 lbs) won by TKO when Jennifer Encarnacion (124 lbs) of the Dominican Republic retired at the end of the fourth round of punishment in a scheduled six-rounder. Encarnacion, who has not fought outside the Dominican Republic and Haiti, fell to 2-5-0 (1 KO).

On January 29, 2011 at the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, New York, Amanda Serrano (128 lbs), this time with a full training camp behind her, won a clear six-round unanimous (59-55,59-55,59-55) decision in a rematch with Ela Nunez (130 lbs) of Jamestown, New York..

On April 22, 2011 at the Fairgrounds Event Center in Hamburg, New York, Amanda (128¼ lbs) TKO'd Ela Nunez (130½ lbs) at 1:30 in the fourth round of a scheduled six-rounder.  

On June 11, 2011 at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City, Amanda Serrano (125 lbs) TKO'd Jennifer Scott (124¼ lbs) of Warren, Ohio, USA at 1:04 in the first round of a scheduled eight-rounder.  Scott fell to 2-4 (2 KO's) with the loss.  

On August 6, 2011 at Parque del Este in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Amanda Serrano (126 lbs) TKO'd Diana Garcia (126 lbs) of the Dominican Republic in the second round of a scheduled eight-rounder. Garcia fell to 12-15 (3 JO's) with the loss. 

On September 10, 2011 at the Aviator Sports Complex in Brooklyn, New York, Amanda (128 lbs) won the vacant IBF Junior Lightweight title with a TKO at 1:45 of the second round over Kimberley Connor (127 lbs) of Little Rock, Arkansas. Connor fell to her knees after several powerful combinations midway through the second round. Connor got back up but she was in trouble and referee Benji Estevez saved her from further punishment by calling the TKO.Connor fell to 9-2-2 (4 KO's) with the loss.

On November 11, 2011 at Hotel Jaragua in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Amanda (129 lbs) won by a fifth-round TKO over Grecia Nova (130 lbs) of San Juan, Dominican Republic, who fell to 8-15-4 (2 KO's) with the loss.

On February 17, 2012 at Cicero Stadium in Cicero, IL, USA, Amanda (128 lbs) won an eight-round unanimous (78-74,78-74,77-75) decision over Ela Nunez (125 lbs) in a non-title fight. This was a tough toe to toe battle that left both boxers with swollen faces. Nunez fell to 11-13-2 (3 KO's). 

On April 27, 2012  at the Cloetta Center in Linkoping, Sweden, Frida Wallberg (129½ lbs) of Sweden retained the WBC Junior Lightweight title with a ten-round unanimous (98-93,97-93,96-94) decision over Amanda Serrano (129¼ lbs). Serrano fought aggressively and took the action to Wallberg for the whole ten rounds, but still came up on the short end of the decision on the scorecards.  Wallberg advanced to 11-0-0 (2 KO's)  while Serrano suffered her first pro loss and dropped to 14-1-1 (9 KO's).

On February 16, 2013, at the Gran Arena del Cibao, Dominican Republic,  Serrano, 126, won by a first round KO over Wanda Pena Ozuna, 126, for the WIBA and UBF featherweight titles in a 10-rounder. 

On June 29, 2013, at the Resorts World Casino, Queens, in New York, Serrano, 130, won by a third round TKO over Dominga Olivo, 132.  Full Story

On September 21, 2013, at the Resorts World Casino, in the borough of Queens, New York, Serrano overpowered an overmatched Kerri Hill in a scheduled six round bout featured on a nine bout boxing card promoted by New Legend Boxing and Old World Boxing in conjunction with W.O.N. Promotions before a raucous, sell-out crowd of New York boxing fans at Resorts World Casino, in the borough of Queens.  Full Story by Bernie McCoy

On September 29, 2013, at the Boxing Factory, Santiago, in the  Dominican Republic, Serrano, 132,  fought Diana Garcia, 130, stopping Garcia by TKO in the first round (1:13). This is the second fight for Serrano this month when she just fought Kerri Hill in Queens, New York, stopping Hill in the second round by TKO.  One of Serrano's goal is to stay busy---and apparently she is! 

On August 15, 2014, at the Estadio F.A.B., Buenos Aires, in Argentina,
Serrano, 134¼, now  21-1-1 (16KO), of Brooklyn, New York, won by a sixth round KO over local boxer Maria Maderna, 13-9-3 (2KO), of Buenos Aires.  Serrano won the WBO Lightweight title.   

On November 13, 2014, at the Space at Westbury, in Westbury, New York,  Serrano, 130, made it a very short night when she won by a first round TKO (59 seconds) over  Carla Torres, 129.  The fight was scheduled for non-title six rounder.

On February 21, 2015, at the Sosua Convention Center, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, In the main event, Serrano, 129, won by TKO3 over Marisol Reyes, 130, in an eight rounder. Not a pretty fight, with after Marisol getting hit chose to hold on, getting 2 points deducted in the 2nd with a warning to be disqualified. In the third after a barrage of punches the ref stopped the fight.

On May 29, 2015, at the W.C. Handy Pavilion, in Memphis, Tennessee,  Serrano, 130.4, won a six-round unanimous decision over Fatuma Zarika, 125.8, of Nairobi, Kenya, in a non-title six rounder. This was televised on CBS Sports.

In a rematch with Fatuma Zarikn, on September 10, 2015, in  Sept 10. In Westbury, New York , Serrano again defeated Zarika by a six round unanimous decision in the lightweight division. 

Serrano staying busy in 2015, fought on November 20, 2015, in her hometown of Brooklyn, New York, and was featured in the co-main, she won by a third round TKO over Djemilla Gontaruk, 135.6, of Belgium. The two were scheduled to fight eight rounds.

On February 17, 2016, at the BB King Blues Club & Grill, New York Serrano stopped Olivia Gerula 1:50 seconds of the first round of a ten round bout.  The two were fighting for the WBO Featherweight world title. Full Story

On April 22, 2016, at the Cancha Ruben Zayas Montanez, Puerto Rico,  Serrano, 126, won by a fourth round TKO over Edina Kiss, of  Budapest, Hungary. The fight was scheduled for eight rounder.

On July 30, 2016, at the  Barclays Center, in Brooklyn, New York, ' Serrano, 124.4, TKO'd Colombian Calixta Silgado, 126.6, in the first round with a powerful body blow, successfully defending her WBO Jr. Featherweight Title.

In 2016, Amanda Serrano was WBAN's 2016 Fighter of the year:  In that year  she had quite a year,  fighting four times---she was not only busy in the ring but definitely out of the ring! She is the all-around "it" factor in the sport, having not only pound-for-pound skills in the ring but projects a stellar image outside the ring, and continues to do that in the sport.  In 2016, Serrano became the WBO Featherweight Champion when won by a first round KO in that bout.  

 
In 2016 Serrano name WBAN's Fighter of the Year!
Courtesy photo:  Amanda Serrano

Later that year she had the honors of being the first female to headline a card in Puerto Rico, where she won by a fourth round KO;  Serrano was featured in every newspaper in Puerto Rico on every top TV program there---with over 35 billboards throughout the island;  She and her sister, Cindy Serrano were in the movie "Fight Valley." where they were featured along with MMA stars Holly Holm, Miesha Tate and Chris Cyborg; In October of 2016, she fought her fifth world title in her fourth division WBO Super Bantamweight World title winning by TKO and tying her record with Miguel Cotto; she was also awarded WBO Female Fighter of the year;  She and her sister, Cindy Serrano recently received notice that they are going to be included in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the first female siblings to become World Champions at the same time in a major organization (WBO); and lastly Serrano was voted Fighter of the Year in Puerto Rico---not just female, but the Fighter of the year....among many more things to mention in her accomplishments in 2016.

On January 14, 2017, at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn, New York
Amanda Serrano vs. Rusita Rivas made history for WBAN by fighting for the Independent WBAN Junior Featherweight title with the WBO and WBC Diamond on the line....Televised on Showtime Extreme.

On April 22, 2017, at the Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York, USA
Amanda "The Real Deal" Serrano, 118, won by a eighth round TKO over Dahiana Santana.  The two were fighting for the WBO bantamweight title. 

On July 21, 2017, at the Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel & Casino, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Amanda "The Real Deal" Serrano, 121¾, made it a short night when she TKO Edina Kiss, 121¾, in the third round of a scheduled ten-round bout. Serrano was defending her WBO Super bantamweight title.

On November 4, 2017, at the Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York, Serrano won by a first round TKO over Marilyn Hernandez.

On September 8, 2018, at the  Barclays Center,in Brooklyn, New York, Serrano won a ten-round unanimous decision over Yamila Reynoso.  Final judges scores were 99-91.  The two were fighting for the vacant IBO super lightweight title.

On January 18, 2019, at the Madison Square Garden Theater, in New York Serrano, 114¼, of Brooklyn, New York, won by a first round KO [0:35], in a scheduled ten-round bout, over Eva Voraberger, 114¾, of Vienna, Austria.  The two were fighting for the vacant WBO Super Flyweight title.  Serrano has moved her record to 36-1-1 (27KO), and Voraberger, is now 24-6-0 (11KO). This makes "#7" for weight class for Serrano, another history first.  More to follow...Serrano was crowned a seven-weight world champion taking  just 35 seconds to knock out Eva Voraberger and win the vacant WBO Female super-flyweight crown at Madison Square Garden, New York.

In 2019, Amanda Serrano was named twice as "Fighter of the Month" in the month of February and October of 2019, and "Fighter of the month" in February 2020.

On September 13, 2019, at the Madison Square Garden Theater, in New York, New York,  Serrano won a ten-round unanimous decision over Heather Hardy.  Serrano vs.  Hardy for the WBO Featherweight world title, and the WBAN Independent Featherweight Belt will be on the line. This is the Second WBAN world title bout for Serrano that fought for it in another weight class ...Full Story

On January 30, 2020, at the Meridian at Island Gardens, Miami, Florida, Serrano, 131.5, won by a third round TKO over Simone Aparecida Da Silva, 131.5.  The bout was scheduled for eight rounds.

On December 16, 2020,  Serrano (38-1-1, 28 KOs)  traveled to the Dominican Republic to rematch with Dahiana Santana (36-12, 15 KOs) at Santo Domingo's Hotel Catalonia Malecon Center. It will be the seven-division champion's first fight since January, despite several high-profile bouts being knocked out by Covid-19.   Serrano wasted little time in stopping Santana in the first round. 

For history purposes of women's boxing, Serrano had twice been scheduled to fight Katie Taylor, a fight that is widely considered the biggest fight in women's boxing. The bout was announced in late March, just before the Covid-19 pandemic shut down New York City, and kicked off a spate of event cancellations. The May 2nd bout was rescheduled for July in England. Once again, the bout was sidelined by Covid, and rescheduled for August. Unable to go to the gym due to Covid restrictions in New York City, and unwilling to travel and fight, without proper sparring, literally in her opponent's promoter's backyard, with no neutral officials, during a pandemic, Serrano and her team decided to move on from the Taylor bout.

April 30, 2022 - Biggest fight in History - Madison Square Garden, New York

In a history-first a female multi-world champion bout was featured in the main event, with a sold out crowd of well over 19,000 boxing fans.  The top champions, Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano did not disappoint!  Taylor, 134½, of Bray, Ireland,  ultimately won a controversial split decision over Serrano, 133½, of Brooklyn, New York,  with final scoring of 96-94 (Serrano); 97-93 (Taylor), and 96-94 (Taylor), with Taylor retaining her WBC, WBO, IBF, and WBA Lightweight titles.   Full Story

February 4, 2023 - Hulu Theatre, Madison Square Garden, New York
Amanda Serrano, 125½, won by a ten-round unanimous decision over Erika Cruz, 125½. Serrano won the IBF, IBO, WBA, WBC, and WBO Featherweight titles. She already held four of them and added the WBA Belt. In another title fight, Alycia Baumgardner, 129, won by a ten-round unanimous decision over Elhem Mekhaled, 129, for the IBF, IBO, WBA, WBC, and WBO Super Featherweight titles; in another female bout, Skye Nicolson, 124¾, won a ten-round unanimous decision over Tania Alvarez, 125½. Final judges scores were 98-92, 97-93, and 100-90. The two were fighting for the WBC Silver Featherweight title; in another ten-round bout, Shadasia Green, 167½, won by a 1:08 seconds, sixth round TKO over Elin Cederroos, 167¼. The two were fighting for the WBC Silver Super Middleweight title; lastly, Ramla Ali, 121½, won a ten-round unanimous decision over Avril Mathie, 121½. Final judges scores were 99-91, 99-91, 99-91, and fighting for the IBF Inter-Continental super bantamweight title. Full Story

Amanda Serrano is WBAN's March 2023 Fighter of the Month! (MAR 1, 2023) There is nothing left to say except what a spectacular fight that Amanda "The Real Deal" Serrano had  recently in New York, when she and her "Warrior" opponent Erika Cruz went to battle for ten straight rounds!  Serrano, won by a ten-round unanimous decision over Cruz, defending four belts and winning a fifth. Titles: IBF, IBO, WBA, WBC, and WBO Featherweight titles.

Amanda follows a strict diet which includes eggs, meat, fruit, and vegetables. She also believes that families should sit down and enjoy dinner together. Families always used to gather around the dinner table to try Mom's new meatloaf recipe but unfortunately that family ritual has slowly declined over the years.

WBAN Boxer Bio by Dee Williams /Updated by Sue TL Fox 2020