Amanda Serrano Wins Action-Packed Decision and Other MVP fight results

Amanda Serrano and Other MVP fight results

Any time you put a Puerto Rican and a Mexican in the boxing ring you can expect action.

Featherweight champion Amanda Serrano allowed late replacement Reina Tellez to get a shot at the big time and the New Year’s fireworks continued with another win for the Puerto Rican legend on Saturday.

But no knockout.

Looking to add to her knockout resume Serrano (48-4-1, 31 Kos) blasted away at San Antonio’s Tellez (13-1-1) who was called two weeks ago to replace another fighter at Roberto Clemente Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

If you know anything about Serrano she has no mercy with anyone inside the boxing ring. It is killed or be killed and Serrano was the hunter seeking prey.

Serrano had lost back-to-back matches to Katie Taylor that were classics. In this match she was facing a fighter at 22 years of age with only five years pro experience. Despite the experience advantage, the Boricua was not giving the Texan a free pass.

“I feel good. Finally, I gave the fans a show,” said Serrano whose previous scheduled fight in Puerto Rico was canceled due to an accident. “I’m super grateful for Reina coming and fighting.”

And fight she did.

Though usually a super bantamweight, Tellez agreed to move up in weight to face Serrano one of the best fighters pound for pound in the world. It did not faze her. From the opening round the Texan tried to exchange with the more powerful Serrano and used her skill to evade the big shots.

Serrano used her usual tenacious style to pressure Tellez to exchange or get overrun. It was a maneuver that kept her in control with her jolting right jabs and straight lefts. Tellez tried countering with left hooks and rights.

For three rounds it appeared that Serrano would overrun Tellez.

After being shut out the first three rounds, Tellez began to attack the body with bad intentions and that seemed to slow Serrano’s momentum. Suddenly Tellez was on the attack and Serrano backed away a few times to regroup. It was Tellez best round so far and the crowd seemed to love the action.

Serrano rebounded in the fifth and came in with a more focused attack. She was not backing away and targeted Tellez body with big left hand shots to the belly. Tellez backed off.

Both fighters exchanged with Serrano always landing one or more blows. Serrano’s right eye swelled and Tellez also had a bruised left side. Though both connected liberally over the 10 rounds neither was close to going down except in the 10th and final round when Serrano belted the Texan with a left uppercut and doubled up with a left cross. Tellez grabbed Serrano to survive.

Serrano stalked Tellez with homicidal intentions and the Texan did all she could to evade the killer blows. Serrano hunted and fired blows with Tellez using all her skill to evade the big shots while dispensing some of her own.

Tellez survived on her feet but lost by unanimous decision to Serrano with all three judges scoring for the champion 98-92, 97-93 twice. Serrano retains the WBO, WBA, IBF featherweight titles.

“These are my babies,” said Serrano about the world title belts. “Reina proved tonight she is a warrior. She came as an undefeated fighter.”

Tellez was grateful for being chosen and also for proving she was an adequate replacement.

“I took the whole experience. I’ve never been 10 rounds let alone three-minute rounds. I fought to the end,” said Tellez. “I showed them tonight what’s up…I got a PHD. I’m poor, hungry and driven.”

Serrano was proud for sponsoring several female fights with three-minute rounds.

“We did it again. We fought three minutes. I just hope all the organizations can give us this quality for women” said Serrano.

Han Beats Holm Retains Title

In a world title match stopped prematurely due to a cut on the forehead of WBA lightweight titlist Stephanie Han, she retained the title by technical decision over former boxing and MMA champion Holly Holm.

Han (12-0) was quicker to the draw and more accurate in defeating Holm (34-3-3) who is already inducted in the Boxing Hall of Fame. The match was scheduled for 10 three-minute rounds but was stopped on the ringside physician’s advice in the seventh.

Many were unsure what to expect.

Holm, a southpaw, had fought and won this past June by unanimous decision but this time was fighting a world champion in Han. In the first round Han immediately exchanged blows with Holm and would not allow her to use her normal hit and run tactics.

Every time Holm shot a left cross and missed Han immediately caught her with counter rights and lefts. She was deadly accurate.

Accuracy was Han’s ally and she continuously used counters to score whenever Holm attacked or exchanged. For perhaps the first time in her career Holm did not have her natural athleticism and agility to give her an advantage. She had quit boxing 12 years ago to enter MMA where she is known as the conqueror of Ronda Rousey the UFC bantam champ. She returned to boxing this past June.

Through seven rounds Han had out-fought Holm with accurate counters and speed. In the seventh round during an exchange both clashed heads and Han emerged with a gash on her forehead. Blood poured out and the ringside physician advised the fight be stopped. According to WBO rules if the fight passes the sixth round and cannot go on, then the fighter ahead on the judges score cards wins the fight.

Han was declared the winner and retains the WBA lightweight title by technical decision 69-65, 69-64 and 68-65.

“I wanted to go the distance and I want to thank Holly. She is an absolute legend,” said Han who was making her second title defense. “Holly she is a freaking athlete.”

Holm was disappointed it did not go the entire 10 three-minute rounds.

“I was waiting for the later rounds to take over,” said Holm. “Nobody wants a fight to end like that.”

Other Female Fights

Krystal Rosado (8-1) returned to the win column with a convincing win over Canada’s Tania Walters (7-4) in an eight-round bantam match.

Rosado used her speed and agility to maneuver around Walters and score with speedy combinations in a match set at three-minute rounds. All three judges scored in favor of Rosado.

“I came with a different mentality and to be grateful with what I have,” said Rosado.

Alexis Araiza (4-2-1) took advantage of Ebanie Bridges (9-3) two years off due to pregnancy and outworked the former bantam champion to win by unanimous decision after eight rounds in a bantamweight match.

Araiza used combination punching to jump ahead in the first round but Bridges countered with a jab and body punches to bloody the Texans nose. After that it was all about stamina.

Bridges had more power but Araiza had more stamina and that proved the difference in convincing the judges. Bridges still showed she has a punch and could be a big factor in the bantamweight division later on. It was a good win for Araiza.

“Never did I think I was going to fight Ebanie Bridges,” said Araiza. “It was amazing.”

All three judges scored in favor of Araiza 80-72, 78-74 twice.

“Women are a different kind of crazy,” said Araiza a mother of three, about fighting brand new mom Bridges.

Other Bouts

Jonathan “La Bomba” Gonzalez (29-4-1, 14 Kos) proved Yankiel Rivera (7-1, 3 Kos) was not quite ready for the top level in their flyweight match for the vacant interim WBA fly title and won by unanimous decision in their battle of Puerto Rican southpaws.

Gonzalez, who lost his last fight to WBO fly champ Anthony Olascuaga by first round knockout, nearly stopped Rivera in the first round with a potent combination. But Rivera survived. Gonalez did knock down Rivera in second round.

It took Rivera several rounds to find a way to evade Gonzalez’s one-two combo. But throughout the 12-round match Gonzalez showed that speed, power and experience were his strong points in controlling the contest. After 12 rounds Gonzalez was deemed the winner by unanimous decision 114-113, 116-111, 117-110.

A rivalry match between Boricuas saw Jan Paul Rivera (14-0, 7 Kos) win by majority decision after eight rounds versus Alfredo Cruz (10-4-1) in a featherweight match.

Rivera proved too strong and was able to out-punch Cruz toward the end of the match.

Super feather contender Henry Lebron (21-0, 11 Kos) won by technical knockout over Juan “Blaze” Tapia (14-5, 5 Kos) to remain undefeated.

Lebron, a southpaw, was careful in dissecting the defensive-minded Tapi who was never truly hurt but could not mount any kind of offense. The Texas fighter’s corner stopped the fight at 2:49 of the seventh round.

A super bantam clash saw Chris Echevarria (10-1) win by unanimous decision over Gabriel Bernardi (7-4) after six very competitive rounds. There were no knockdowns.

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