Amanda Serrano is back to defend her featherweight championship as she looks to end the first losing skid of her career.
MVP Promotions announced Tuesday that Serrano (47-4-1) is set to defend her undisputed status at 126 pounds in a rematch against Erika Cruz (18-2-1) on Jan. 3 at Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The event will be broadcast live on DAZN.
According to a press release, Serrano and Cruz will battle for 10 three-minute rounds, as opposed to two-minute rounds that women typically compete in.
This marks a long-awaited homecoming for Serrano, who was supposed to fight Nina Meinke in Puerto Rico in December 2023, but the bout was cancelled on fight day when Serrano had to pull out due to an eye injury, which MVP executive Nakisa Bidarian said was due to a chemical entering Serrano’s eye during a hair appointment.
Serrano instead fought Stevie Morgan the following July in a 138-pound bout, which served as a precursor to two more fights with super lightweight champion Katie Taylor, Serrano’s longtime rival. The boxers have clashed three times, with Taylor winning narrow decisions in April 2022 and November 2024, and then eking out a majority decision over Serrano this past July in a 10-round bout that failed to live up to the action of their first two meetings.
Despite the losing streak, Serrano remains dominant at featherweight, holding all four major titles. She has had her hand raised in six straight fights as a defending champion, including her first meeting with Cruz in February 2023. At an event in New York City, Serrano defeated Cruz via unanimous decision to add Cruz’s WBA belt to her collection and become the unified champion of the division.
Cruz is a former WBA featherweight and super bantamweight champion. In her most recent fight in May, Cruz defeated Maricruz Rodriguez Gonzalez via sixth-round TKO. She is 3-0-1 since her loss to Serrano.
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