(OCT 28) Amanda “The Real Deal” Serrano (46-2-1, 30 KOs) successfully defended her WBO, WBA, IBF, and IBO world featherweight titles against challenger and WBO interim featherweight champion Danila “A Guerreira” Ramos (12-3, 1 KO).  “A Guerreira” means “The Warrior” in Portuguese.  It was the first women’s unified title fight scheduled for the same amount of rounds and duration of rounds (twelve 3-minute rounds) as a men’s world championship.  The World Boxing Council (WBC) refused to sanction this fight because of safety reasons.  WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman does not believe that it is safe for female boxers to fight 3-minute rounds. The judges’ scores were all identical at 120-108.  Serrano won by unanimous decision.  The judges did not score any of the rounds in favor of Ramos.  However, it was a competitive fight from beginning to end.  The event which was titled Most Valuable Prospects III was promoted by Most Valuable Promotions (MVP).  The venue for this event was the Caribe Royale which is a resort in Orlando, Florida.

The boxers were introduced after their ring walks.  Serrano is originally from Puerto Rico, but also lives in Brooklyn, New York.  Ramos was born in Brazil, but now lives in Argentina.  Serrano uses a southpaw stance whereas Ramos uses an orthodox stance.  Serrano is 35 years old.  Ramos is 38.  Mostly jabs were thrown by both boxers in the first round.  The rest of the fight was usually Serrano pursuing Ramos, but Ramos was still sometimes throwing and landing even while backpedaling.  It was evident that Ramos was faster than Serrano with the feet and hands.  Serrano may have overtrained for this fight in preparation for the increased duration and amount of rounds.  Ramos had energy like she was in her early 30s instead of her late 30s. 

Serrano’s straight left had hurt Ramos in round six, but Ramos also was able to land to Serrano’s head with quick punches.  After the round ended, the fight was halfway to the bout’s scheduled duration.  Serrano was relentless in her pursuit of Ramos in round seven.  Serrano was stronger, but Ramos was faster and nimbler.  In round ten, Serrano landed uppercuts to Ramos’ body and pummeled Ramos in a corner of the ring.  Ramos was able to escape and the round ended.  The eleventh and twelfth rounds were more intense because the fight was almost over.  Serrano pushed Ramos down in the twelfth and final round, but the referee ruled that it was not a knockdown.  The two boxers hugged at the end, obviously aware of what they both had accomplished for themselves and for women’s boxing in this historic fight. 

Serrano has publicly stated that she only wants to fight twelve 3-minute rounds in the future.  That could derail plans for a rematch with Katie Taylor.  Taylor has rejected fighting the same amount and duration of rounds as the men for world title fights.  Another issue could be whether the WBC will eventually strip Serrano of her WBC title because the WBC will not sanction female world title fights with twelve 3-minute rounds.  Skye Nicholson of Australia is the WBC interim world featherweight champion.  Nicholson could be elevated from interim champion to full champion if Serrano is stripped of her WBC title.  Nicholson is scheduled to defend her interim title against Lucy Wildheart of Sweden on November 25th in Dublin, Ireland.  Nicholson is 8-0, 0 KO. 

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