Amanda Serrano’s 126-pound title defense against Nina Meinke was canceled at the last minute because Serrano has an eye injury.
Serrano (46-2-1, 30 KOs) said tearfully in the ring that she failed a mandatory medical exam. Jake Paul, her promoter, said her “cornea is exposed. You can’t risk your eyesight forever.”
Serrano didn’t say how she suffered the injury.
“She’s going to push through this, heal the eye,” said Paul, who had his arm around the devastated Puerto Rican fighter. “And we’re going to come back as soon as we can and re-run it. Nina wants that, Amanda wants that.
“This happened 36 hours ago. We did everything we could to keep the fight on but it wasn’t being approved by the commissions as well.”
Said Serrano: “I’m so sorry. I came to fight, I came to put on a show, for you guys. One thing I will tell you, I will be back. This is where I will retire. … I’m sorry from the bottom of my heart.”
She said she could barely see out of her eye.
“I was willing to go out there and still give the fans a show but they just wouldn’t allow me to,” she said.
***
Jake Paul stopped Ryan Bourland in the opening round of their scheduled eight-round, 200-pound fight, his second consecutive first-round knockout. The official time of the stoppage was 2:37.
Paul (9-1, 6 KOs) took control of the fight immediately, using his jab and hard body shots to put Bourland (17-3, 5 KOs) on the defensive.
The beginning of the end appeared to be an overhand right to the side of Bourland’s head about two minutes into the fight, a blow that staggered the California fighter.
Paul followed with a barrage of punishing, accurate shots as he followed a wounded Bourland around the ring. Finally, Bourland collapsed under a flurry of unanswered punches and referee Luis Pabon stopped the fight.
Paul was coming off a first-round stoppage of Andre August in December. He needed five fewer seconds to put August away.
A full report will follow shortly.
***
Jonathan Gonzalez (27-3-1, 14 KOs) successfully defended his 108-pound title against Rene Santiago (12-3, 9 KOs) by a unanimous decision in a competitive all-Puerto Rico battle.
The official scores were 117-111, 116-112 and 115-113.
Gonzalez was born in Caguas, Puerto Rico, but he lives in the Bronx, New York.
***
Jake Paul and Amanda Serrano will take part in co-featured bouts Saturday in San Juan, Puerto Rico (DAZN).
Paul (8-1, 5 KOs) will face Ryan Bourland (17-2, 6 KOs) in a scheduled eight-round 200-pound bout. Serrano (46-2-1, 30 KOs) will then defend her 126-pound titles against Nina Meinke (18-3, 4 KOs).
The featured portion of the show is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT. (main event later in the show).
Boxing Junkie will post results, as well as a brief summary, immediately after the featured fights end. Simply return to this post and refresh when the time comes.
Full coverage – detailed fight stories, analysis and more – will follow on separate posts the night of the card and the following day.
Enjoy the fights!
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