Unified featherweight titleholder Amanda Serrano is scheduled for her next outing where she will be defending her WBA and WBO world titles against challenger Erika Cruz on Jan. 3 in San Juan, Puerto Rico in a fight that will stream live on DAZN and ESPN, as reported by ESPN.
The most notable thing here is that this fight will be contested over 12 three-minute rounds as has been the preference of Serrano.Serrano (47-4-1, 31 KOs) is coming off of consecutive defeats to Katie Taylor on points at super
lightweight, but did not forfeit her belts at featherweight to make that fight happen. Therefore Serrano will still be expected to come into this fight as a confident reigning champion in the featherweight division. Serrano also Cruz in a Feb. 2023 fight that saw Serrano win a clear unanimous decision.
“Every time I step into the ring, I fight for all women, for equality and for Puerto Rico,” Serrano said in a statement. “Getting to fight three-minute rounds in a unified world title defense in front of my people will be one of the proudest moments of my career. When I got injured last March, I promised I’d come back to fight in Puerto Rico, and now the moment is finally here.”
Cruz (18-2-1, 4 KOs) has won three fights and scored one draw since losing to Serrano a couple of years ago, and given that he pretty much has no power to force a stoppage, she’ll have to be looking for points win here that will likely be difficult for her to come by.
