Amanda Serrano had a few days she’ll never forget. For all the wrong reasons.
The popular 126-pound champion was set to defend her titles against Nina Meinke on Saturday night in her native Puerto Rico when, at the last minute, the fight was canceled for one of the most bizarre reasons you’ll ever hear.
Hair dye dripped into her eye, making it impossible for her to see through it. The condition reportedly is called an “exposed cornea.”
This is roughly the series of events that led up to the cancelation only minutes after her co-promoter, Jake Paul, knocked out Ryan Bourland in the first round at a packed Coliseo Jose Miguel Agrelot in San Juan.
- Serrano went to a hair stylist on Thursday night, when she had her hair colored.
- A chemical from the treatment dripped into her eye during a training run on Friday, irritating the eye and making it difficult for her to see. Paul added that the chemical also burned her hand.
- She notified her promotional company (MVP) that day, co-promoter Nakisa Bidarian told BoxingScene.com. (She wore sunglasses at the weigh-in that afternoon.)
- A private doctor examined her that night. “They felt with the prescribed [eye] drops, the irritation in the eye would subside and allow her to perform,” Bidarian told the outlet.
- Serrano arrived at the arena on Saturday with the intention of fighting because “her eye was starting to feel better,” said Bidarian.
- A Puerto Rico Boxing Commission-appointed doctor examined Serrano during the Javon Walton-Joshua Torres undercard fight – immediately before Paul-Bourland – and ruled that she was unfit to fight.
- Serrano, wearing sunglasses, and Meinke entered the ring after the Paul-Bouland fight. Paul, with his arm around a weeping Serrano, announced that the fight was off because of the injury. Many spectators booed.
- Paul said that fans would receive full refunds. Also, it was announced that Meinke would be paid. And Paul said the Serrano-Meinke fight would be rescheduled after the eye heals.
- Serrano, who acknowledged she couldn’t see out of the eye, apologized profusely and promised that she would return to the famed arena and retire there one day.
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