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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.
| In December of 2017, Amanda "The Real
Deal" Serrano was awarded by WBAN as the fighter with the "Highest
Achievements for 2017". Serrano had a fantastic 2017
year in and out of the ring! She won the WBC Diamond title, the WBAN
World title, as well as becoming the first female to win a world
title in five divisions. She was featured in the main event twice on
Showtime Boxing Extreme and she was added to the Puerto Rico Sports
Museum alongside her sister Cindy “Checkmate” Serrano. There was a
beautiful mural painted of she and CIndy in their neighborhood, and
just signed a great opportunity for an MMA deal. She also won the Ring
8 NYS Female Fighter of the Year. Out of the ring, she has been
featured in 15 magazines, with two on the cover. Lastly, this great
multi-world champion was nominated Univision’s Athletes of the year.
Amanda was WBAN's top female boxer of the month twice in 2017! |
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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.
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