The origin story isn’t something spectacular. In actual fact, it’s the stereotypical one which has been hooked up to prizefighters across the globe for many years. A child does nicely on the newbie scene – nicely sufficient that somebody approaches them with a proposal to make some cash in a battle, and the child takes it.
Twenty-year-old Amanda Serrano – the child, on this case – versus Jackie Trivilino. March 20, 2009, on the Washington Avenue Armory in Albany, New York. A few three-and-a-half-hour drive from Serrano’s house in Brooklyn, nevertheless it would possibly as nicely have been one million miles away to this new world she was getting into.
“I used to be positively the opponent,” Serrano instructed me in 2022, earlier than her game-changing bout with Katie Taylor. “Somebody referred to as us from Gleason’s Health club and stated, ‘There’s this battle with this lady, Jackie Trivilino, would you’re taking it?’ I stated, ‘Certain, why not?’ I gained the Golden Gloves in 2008, and I used to be like, what am I gonna do? I’m not gonna do the Golden Gloves one other hundred occasions. So I stated, let’s simply do it and make somewhat bit of cash.”
It was somewhat bit of cash, a recurring theme all through her profession – till she broke the financial institution in opposition to Taylor. However the Trivilino battle was additionally a win, by way of majority determination. And though the cash wasn’t nice, that feeling of profitable turned addictive. As she fed that habit, the boxing world slowly began to see that Serrano was fairly rattling good.
Sadly, on the women’ aspect of the game, “fairly rattling good” didn’t imply a lot for lots of years. Perhaps, when you had been fortunate, you bought a name to face a champion in Europe or Mexico – locations the place ladies’s boxing was accepted and revered much more on the time than it was right here within the States.
“At first, it was all enjoyable and video games,” Serrano stated. “I wasn’t within the sport to develop into a world champion. I simply did it for the enjoyable.”
In 2012, Serrano bought that decision to Europe for a world title battle with Frida Wallberg within the WBC junior light-weight champion’s yard of Sweden. Wallberg handed Serrano her first professional loss by unanimous determination, and, regardless of the setting, it was a good verdict.
Fourteen months later, Wallberg was out of the game, the sufferer of a mind harm suffered in a title protection loss to Diana Prazak. It was this high-risk, low-reward nature of boxing – significantly ladies’s boxing – that had Serrano’s sister Cindy and brother-in-law Jordan Maldonado initially discouraging her from the game. However by this time, the die was solid: Amanda wasn’t simply going to battle for enjoyable. She was chasing belts.
By the point Wallberg was injured and compelled to retire, Serrano ran off 4 wins, all by knockout. Maldonado, her coach, supervisor and the frontman of Group Serrano, saved his sister-in-law busy within the health club and ring whereas he dealt with the PR, with one of many recurring themes all through her profession being that she was so dedicated to boxing that she didn’t personal a cellphone or have a boyfriend.
“I believe they’re extra fascinated with the no cellphone,” Serrano instructed me in 2022. “These days, everyone’s caught on their telephones, everyone’s wanting down, they’re by no means wanting up, and it’s a headache. It’s a problem having to reply again to so many individuals. And there aren’t any distractions. I’ve my household that retains me on my Ps and Qs. That makes me comfortable, and that’s all I would like.”
It’s nearly comical that it’s nonetheless “a factor” today, however ladies fighters all the time needed to work tougher to get their tales out to the general public. When you confirmed as much as battle, it wasn’t sufficient. There needed to be a hook. Serrano’s marriage to the game was hers – not less than till the titles began piling up. Ultimately, there have been seven division titles in her trophy case, and whereas she took her share of criticism for occasionally preventing for vacant belts, the reality is that greater than a pair champions determined to vacate their titles in lieu of going through the hard-hitting Brooklynite.
And when you did put your belt on the road in opposition to Serrano, you misplaced.
Quickly, although, the world knew who Serrano was, and if she had been like everybody else, it was time to take a breath and be glad with what she had achieved – if just for a minute. As a substitute, Serrano put her foot on the fuel. As a result of for all of the belts, accolades and media consideration, she nonetheless wasn’t creating wealth commensurate together with her expertise and growing drawing energy. It appeared like boxing simply didn’t get it.
However Jake Paul did. The fighter within the co-main occasion of Serrano’s Saturday bout in opposition to Nina Meinke wished to work with him, and for her 2021 win over Yamileth Mercado, Paul bought her $400,000. A month later, Paul’s MVP Promotions group was her promoter.
Two fights later, in April 2022, Serrano and Taylor every made a million {dollars} for a headlining battle at Madison Sq. Backyard.
Sport modified.
Taylor took the choice that night time in New York Metropolis, however there have been no losers after an epic 10-rounder that was maybe one of the best battle in ladies’s boxing historical past, one which many nonetheless swear Serrano gained.
Then, lastly, it was time to ease up, proper? Fallacious.
Because the Taylor battle, which was held at 135 kilos, Serrano went again to her optimum weight class of 126 kilos, gained 4 fights, unified the featherweight crown, turned a face of the game and even fought again in opposition to the WBC as a result of it wouldn’t sanction a championship bout at 12 three-minute rounds. So what did Serrano do? She dumped the inexperienced belt and made historical past by beating Danila Ramos over 12 three-minute rounds final October.
And now it’s time for Germany’s Meinke, on Serrano’s island of Puerto Rico – a celebration that needs to be simply that when the mud settles in San Juan, though there are whispers that perhaps Serrano, at 35, is because of begin slowing down.
In fact, she did get hit greater than common in her bloody February 2023 win over Erika Cruz. However when the combatants mix to throw 1,917 punches, that’s going to occur.
But she was as sharp as ever in her subsequent two fights, in opposition to Heather Hardy and Ramos, and heading into this weekend’s bout she is contemporary from selecting up 2023 Fighter of the 12 months awards from “The Ring” and the Boxing Writers Affiliation of America.
In different phrases, Saturday night time will inform the story whether or not Serrano has misplaced one thing on her fastball or not. If she has, Meinke doubtless gained’t be the one to take benefit and swipe her belts. That job can solely go to one of many elite within the sport – a Taylor, or somebody minimize from that fabric. As a result of Amanda Serrano, the child from Brooklyn who fought Ela Nunez 4 occasions simply to show a degree, is just not a mean fighter.
By no means has been, by no means can be.
