Amanda Serrano continues to prove why she’s one of the best fighters in the world.
CLEVELAND – [autotag]Amanda Serrano[/autotag] continues to prove why she is one of the best combat sports athletes in the world.
Serrano (41-1-1), who competes in MMA and boxing, stepped into the ring on Sunday against Yamileth Mercado to defend her unified WBC, IBO, and WBO titles, and needed all 10 rounds to get the job done.
The bout served as the co-main event of Paul vs. Woodley, which aired on Showtime pay-per-view on Sunday evening.
Serrano let her hands go early to start the fight, landing a nice left hand to get her opponent’s attention quickly. The skill gap was apparent in the first round, although Mercado was able to land a few shots of her own as well.
The early pace of the fight moved as quickly as the two-minute rounds that boxing allows for women’s fights. While Serrano stalked Mercado around the ring, intense striking exchanges occurred frequently. Mercado worked a counter-punching game, but it was Serrano who would have more success in leading the dance, especially with punches going to the body.
Serrano opened a cut under the left eye of Mercado in the ninth round, after she was well ahead on the scorecards.
Although Mercado proved to be a durable opponent who didn’t make it as easy as many anticipated, Serrano walked away with her hand raised via unanimous decision with scores of 97-93, 98-92, and 99-91.
Serrano picked up her 41st professional boxing victory, having won titles in seven different weight divisions along the way. As an MMA fighter, she is 2-0-1. Her most recent MMA bout took place in June against Valentina Garcia at iKon Fighting Federation 7, a fight she won by guillotine choke in the first round.
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