Amanda Serrano outpoints gutsy Erika Cruz, rematch with Katie Taylor next

Amanda Serrano withstood a spirited effort from Erika Cruz to become undisputed featherweight champion on Saturday in New York City.

Amanda Serrano added an undisputed championship to her decorated legacy. And the best still might lie ahead.

Serrano survived a spirited effort from Erika Cruz to win a one-sided decision in an entertaining brawl to claim all four major 126-pound titles Saturday night at Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.

She’s the first native of Puerto Rico to become an undisputed champion, which has been her goal for years.

Next up? A rematch with undisputed 135-pound champion Katie Taylor, who successfully defended her belts against Serrano by a split decision in April of last year at MSG.

That matchup seemed to be in jeopardy for a while on Saturday.

Cruz, known for her punch output, came out firing at the opening bell and fought Serrano on roughly even terms in the first half of the fight even though she suffered a bad cut on her hairline from an accidental clash of heads in Round 3.

However, as the blood continued to stream down her face and she grew weary, Serrano took firm control of the fight with hard, accurate one-two combinations as Cruz continued to plow forward.

“[Trainer] Jordan [Maldonado] kept yelling, ‘One-twos, one-twos. Go back to the basics,’” Serrano said. “My left was catching her pretty clearly. I just listened to the corner.”

Indeed, Cruz demonstrated uncommon determination and resilience but it was Serrano who landed the cleaner, more damaging blows.

Thus, the official scoring wasn’t close. Two judges scored it 98-92 while the third had it 97-93, making Serrano “undisputed” for the first time. Boxing Junkie also had it 97-93 in favor of Serrano, seven rounds to three.

Serrano, a seven-division titleholder, entered the fight with the IBF, WBC and WBO belts. She added Cruz’s WBA title on Saturday.

“I finally did it for my island,” said Serrano, who grew up in Brooklyn. “.. I love you very much.”

Cruz didn’t surprise Serrano with her admirable effort.

“Not at all,” she said. “She’s a Mexican champion. I said it from the very beginning. I knew she wasn’t just going to let me take her belt. She worked hard for this, I worked hard for mine. That’s what we expected, that’s what we trained for. We didn’t expect anything less than that.”

The victory sets up arguably the biggest possible fight in women’s boxing, a second meeting with the unbeaten Taylor.

Eddie Hearn, who promotes both fighters, said after the fight – the first time two undisputed champs will have fought one another — is set for May 20 in Taylor’s home country of Ireland. Taylor (22-0, 6 KOs) is a hero in her native land but has never fought there.

“Katie is a true champion,” Serrano said. “She came here to New York. … Now she deserves to fight in Ireland. It’s going to be a bigger and better fight over there.”

If they give the Irish fans half the excitement Serrano and Cruz delivered on Saturday, they will have gotten their money’s worth.

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