Amanda Serrano to defend featherweight titles in boxing rematch against Erika Cruz

NEW YORK (AP) — Amanda Serrano will defend her featherweight titles in her native Puerto Rico against Erika Cruz in a rematch of their bloody bout in 2023.

The fight will take place Jan. 3 at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Most Valuable Promotions announced Tuesday.

Serrano (47-4-1, 31 KOs) became Puerto Rico’s first undisputed champion when she beat Cruz by unanimous decision at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 4, 2023. But she has been fighting above the 126-pound weight class recently for the final two bouts of her trilogy with 140-pound champion Katie Taylor.

Now Serrano, a seven-division world champion, drops back down to her preferred weight class for a fight that will be contested over 10, three-minute rounds, the same length as in men’s boxing. Serrano will be defending the WBA and WBO belts, having vacated the WBC crown over its insistence for two-minute rounds for women’s boxing.

Serrano and Cruz (18-2-1, 4 KOs) stood close throughout their first fight and traded plenty of punches but also clashed heads, opening a cut that caused the Mexican fighter to spend much of the later rounds wiping blood from her eyes.

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AP boxing: https://apnews.com/boxing