In a fight that turned out to be tougher than many would have thought, Amanda Serrano made her first trip across the pond and came one step closer to achieving her goal of holding every single title in the 126-pound weight class by outscoring IBF champion Sarah Mahfoud last night at Manchester Arena.
Serrano successfully rebounded from a split decision loss to Katie Taylor in their historic headlining bout at Madison Square Garden on April 30, only the second defeat of her thirteen-year career. Not long after their first date with destiny, the Puerto Rican sensation opted out of an immediate rematch with Taylor so that she could return to the featherweight division, declaring her intention to fulfill her obligations as a titleholder and take care of some overdue house cleaning. Not until she becomes undisputed champion at 126 pounds will Serrano entertain the idea of a second bout against Taylor, who of course possesses all the belts at 135.
Coincidentally, Mahfoud had claimed the interim version of the IBF featherweight title in February 2020 by outpointing Brenda Karen Carbajal, who was supposed to have been Serrano’s post-Taylor dance partner back in August until the MSG card was canceled due to discrepancies over Hasim Rahman Jr.’s weight for his proposed fight versus Jake Paul.
Without having to earn the distinction in the ring, Mahfoud was arbitrarily elevated to the status of world champion by the IBF five months later, Jennifer Han having vacated the crown she had last worn into the ring two years prior. The 32-year-old Mahfoud (11-0, 3 KOs going into the Serrano bout) remained sidelined during the height of the Covid pandemic, sitting on the title for more than two years before finally defending it this past April courtesy of a narrow victory over Nina Meinke. Saturday’s unification fight likewise marked Mahfoud’s maiden voyage to Great Britain, never competing outside her native Denmark to that point.
Amanda Serrano, already in possession of the WBC, WBO, and IBO world featherweight titles, had been calling out both Mahfoud and WBA champion Erika Cruz Hernandez, who has defended against Melissa Esquivel and former belt holder Jelena Mrdjenovich, to no avail until just recently.
Having cornered Mahfoud at long last, Amanda did what she does best which is start strong, relentlessly stalking her prey behind her punishing right jab. The heavy-handed Serrano varied her punch selection nicely, using feints to keep Mahfoud guessing whether she was going to be banging to the body as Amanda is wont to do, or unleash hard left hands whistling towards her chin.
Despite being walked back and spending the majority of their scrap throwing counters off the back foot, Mahfoud exhibited a surprising tenacity to hang in there with the powerful southpaw, even rattling Serrano momentarily in the last minute of the bout with a well-timed right/left combination.
Serrano unanimously swept the judges’ scorecards by two identical tallies of 97-93 and a wider 99-92 margin arrived at by Victor Loughlin, adding the IBF title to her nearly complete collection of 126-pound championship belts.
Being taken the distance by Sarah Mahfoud keeps Serrano in a deadlock with Zulina Munoz for second place on the list of most knockouts by a female boxer with 30 apiece. Munoz (53-4-2), who takes on Kudakwashe Chiwandire on October 1 in Zimbabwe, and Serrano, who hasn’t notched a stoppage since putting Daniela Bermudez down for the count with a body shot 18 months ago, are both within two of tying Christy Martin’s long-standing record.
“I really want to say something that’s important to me. I’m dedicating this fight to all the women in Iran who are fighting for their rights and fighting for their lives,” Serrano said at Friday’s weigh-in, humbly acknowledging that there are far more vital battles being waged in the world than competitions for individual sporting records and championship belts. “I’m with you, and I’m dedicating this fight to all you beautiful women.”
Serrano and WBA world featherweight champion Erika Cruz Hernandez are now the last two women standing atop the 126-pound division. Even though Serrano cleared some space on the summit by knocking off Sarah Mahfoud, she has declared many times over that there is rarified air enough for only one belt holder. Erika, consider yourself officially warned.
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Earlier in the evening, featherweight prospect Raven ‘The Omen’ Chapman was back in action after scoring a first-round knockout of an overmatched and underweight Gabriella Mezei at York Hall in May.
Her three previous opponents boasting a combined record of 26-75-9, Raven gained some valuable ring experience, to go along with a secondary WBC featherweight title, by defeating former IBF super-flyweight world champion Jorgelina Guanini in her first eight-rounder.
Chapman had the bumps and bruises to prove it, getting lumped up in the process of improving to 4-0 as a pro by the hardscrabble veteran Guanini, who seemingly touched the canvas in round two. However, Guanini was not subjected to a count by referee Victor Loughlin, who would later turn in the most generous scorecard in favor of Amanda Serrano over Sarah Mahfoud.
Speaking of Serrano, she and Chapman hit it off during the fight week festivities in Manchester and went to “go get fat together,” in Amanda’s words,following Friday’s weigh-in. Serrano complimented Raven as a “beautiful beast” with whom she would be proud “to share the ring together one day.”
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