For the Puerto Rican boxer Amanda Serrano there are no social networks and she has never had a cell phone. The discipline is the one that governs his life dedicated to this sport, which has already given him three world titles and is ready to win another belt, on February 17.
Serrano, short, thin and with small hands, looks more like a teenager than an agile and dangerous contender, with a record of 28 fights, 19 of them by knockout, which she hopes to repeat when the former world champion is measured on Wednesday. Canadian Olivia Gerula (17-15-2, 3KO).
The fight will be for the vacant title of the World Boxing Organization (WBO) at the featherweight of 126 pounds, a scepter that he had already held, and will mark the first time that a title fight has been played at the legendary club BB King in New York.
The three-time 27-year-old world champion (26-1-1-19), who dropped from the super featherweight of 130 pounds for this fight, acknowledges that she faces a good opponent, but assured Efe that she will not disappoint her fans or his team because “the only thing I have in mind is to take the title home with me.”
Her passion for this sport came to her through her older sister Cindy, also a boxer, who tried to convince her not to enter such a rough sport.
“But I continued in the gym and moving forward and they will not stop me,” said the fighter, who was 17 years old at the time.
“It’s tough, it’s a sport dominated by men but we women try to take over. We have powerful women like Holly Hom or Ronda Rousey doing things right. I want to be number one, “she said during a training session in which she focused, hitting the bag over and over again under the supervision of her coach Jordan Maldonado.
Serrano, the first woman in the history of the International Boxing Federation (IBF) to win the 130-pound title, the first of her career in 2011 and known as “The Real Deal”, speaks with passion of a sport for the one that women had to fight hard outside the ring.
Although women have been fighting for more than a century, their battle to be recognized and accepted in boxing took them to court and it was not until the 2012 Olympic Games in London that this discipline was included in that competition, in the one that many have made history.
Serrano confesses that she has not had a boyfriend either and that it is not in her plans because she is focused on her goal of winning on Wednesday and then seeking to unite the four world titles of the International Women’s Boxing Association (WIBA), International Association of Women Boxers ( IFBA), International Women’s Boxing Federation (IWBF) and the International Women’s Boxing Federation.
To do this, he has to face several fights in different divisions but, according to his coach, “not many want to fight Amanda because she hits hard.”
“When I am again champion of 126 pounds I will look to fight Jennifer Han, IBF champion, or the winner between Soledad Matthysse and Jelena Mrdjenovich who will fight for the WBA and WBC titles, which Matthysse has,” said the left-hander .
If he does not achieve that fight, he explained to Efe that he will drop to 122 pounds in search of the title of that division and thus be crowned in four divisions as Miguel Cotto, a Puerto Rican boxer whom he admires.
The boxer says that she has always had the support of her fellow boxers, but confesses that her mother is afraid that she will suffer an injury in combat, so she does not go to their fights.
Serrano, who dreams of fighting in Puerto Rico, where he was born, assures that he enjoys when “the referee raises my hand to give me victory and they give me the (champion) belt.”
“It’s the best feeling in the world,” he insists.
Boxer Amanda Serrano ready to win another belt
