Amanda Serrano Decisions Sarah Mahfoud To Unify WBC, IBF, WBO, IBO Titles

Amanda Serrano added to her massive collection of world title belts by unifying the WBC, WBO and IBF (plus IBO) featherweight titles with a lopsided unanimous decision over Sarah Mahfoud on the Joyce-Parker card in Manchester.

If Serrano’s fight with Katie Taylor earlier this year was a big deal for women’s boxing, it also made Serrano something of a global star. Thus, she could appear in England as the main support of a heavyweight pay-per-view bout, with promoter Frank Warren admitting that she has never been a big fan of women’s boxing and calls her appearance “a hit”.

The performance lacked fireworks, however, as Serrano, a seven-weight world champion, pushed and dominated but never really hurt Mahfoud. In fact, Mahfoud finished better as his confidence and ambition increased.

Still, it wasn’t enough to win the decision. Victor Loughlin had it 99-92, which seemed wide, but Steve Gray and Michael Alexander had it closer, 97-93.

“It was tough,” Serrano said. “I know she trained hard. She knew who she was up against and she put up a fight with me.”

Serrano said she wanted to face WBA featherweight champion Erika Cruz Hernandez before facing Taylor again.

“I want the last piece of the puzzle to be undisputed and then the rematch with Katie Taylor,” he said. “What better story than undisputed against undisputed, it will add to our two legacies.”

Mahfoud, who was defending the IBF title, looked tentative in the first round when Serrano stepped forward to cut the ring behind his right jab.

When Serrano started to open up in the second round, it seemed like Mahfoud couldn’t cope, particularly when Serrano started throwing body shots. The Danish boxer also suffered a cut to the top of her head from a head butt.

Mahfoud’s backpedaling meant it was difficult for him to get into range when he was throwing, as most of his punches ran out before reaching Serrano. He had some success with a right hook in the third, but Serrano was up high, landing his jab and then coming down and firing a left hand over him.

The pattern continued in the fourth and fifth rounds, and although Mahfoud tried to get a better grip on his feet, he couldn’t stop Serrano from getting ahead.

Mahfoud had a better sixth as she had more success taking out Serrano, but the New Yorker was back in charge in the seventh and eighth rounds, although Mahfoud came back well in the ninth round when Serrano’s production slowed again and also had a good tenth. , while she was ahead of Serrano.

Ron Lewis is a senior writer for BoxingScene. He was a boxing correspondent for The Times, where he worked from 2001 to 2019, covering four Olympic Games and numerous world title fights around the world. He has written about boxing for a wide variety of publications around the world since the 1980s.