Erika Cruz (right) connects to Amanda Serrano, whom she put to the test in front of her fans in New York.
Photo: Al Bello/Getty Images
Amanda Serrano made more history for Puerto Rican boxing on Saturday in New York defeating the fearless Mexican Erika Cruz by decision to become the undisputed featherweight champion, in a bloody and memorable 10-round bout.
The judges saw the Puerto Rican Serrano win by 98-92, 98-92 and 97-93 by virtue of the fact that she dominated the second part of the battle. She was the owner of the WBC, WBO and IBF titles. Cruz, who fully complied with her statement that she was going to “die on the line”, defended the WBA version crown.
Erika Cruz suffered a huge cut on her head, above her forehead, in round 3 as a result of an accidental collision that caused her to fight covered in blood for the rest of the fight. and that seemed to affect him a lot, mainly due to poor visibility. However, the 32-year-old Mexican never stopped throwing blows in what was a duel in which both left-handed gladiators gave their all.
Serrano, 34, entered the ring with his long list of great achievements such as world championships in seven different divisions, but with the intention of becoming the first boxer -or boxer- from Puerto Rico to be the undisputed world champion in a division. , in this case the 126 lbs.
The fight, broadcast in the United States on DAZN, took place at the Hulu Theater in Madison Square Garden, where Serrano had the support of the majority of the fans. But they remained mostly silent during the first part of the lawsuit, surprised by Cruz’s aggressive attitude.who punched up and down like a machine.
It took the great champion Serrano to make adjustments, find her rhythm and, indeed, take advantage of the incessant bleeding that ran down her opponent’s face to come unstuck on the judges’ ballots and take the decision.
“Not at all, she is a Mexican champion,” Serrano said when asked if Cruz surprised her by the way he went for her.. “She worked hard for what she has, I worked hard for what I have, and that’s what we expected, that’s what we prepared for.”
Despite facing a boxing legend like Serrano, Cruz – who is a member of the Mexican National Guard – fought in the center of the ring against the woman who arrived with 30 knockouts as a professional. The initial goal of her was to hit the liver region; he did it very successfully, always with his head down, during the middle of the fight.
It wasn’t until round 5 that Serrano won his first round clearly. After that episode, the doctors began checking Cruz’s cut before letting her out for each subsequent round. She, stoic, was an example of determination and never stopped looking for her night of glory despite faltering a bit in the sixth, drawing strength from who knows where to stay on her feet, keep going forward and keep throwing.
With Serrano’s victory, which was much more difficult than expected, the table was set for the rematch fight between her and the Irish Katie Taylor, with whom he posed in the ring after his victory. Taylor bested Serrano last year in an excellent clash at the Garden.
The millionaire plans of Serrano-Taylor 2 were called into question during 10 rounds on Saturday night in Manhattan by Cruz, who dressed in sky blue in honor of Salvador Sánchez. She well warned the Puerto Rican during the week not to belittle her, even asking for an apology for the conversations in the media that did not take her very seriously.
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