James Dielhenn
Amanda Serrano is now the unified WBC and WBO featherweight champion; she will defend those titles next month; Katie Taylor aims to return to the ring in April; the rivals could not agree a deal to fight last year
Amanda Serrano is set to meet Daniela Bermudez on March 25 in Puerto Rico in a world featherweight title fight.
Serrano failed to agree a deal last summer to collide with Katie Taylor in a battle of multi-weight world champions but will continue her claim to be the No 1 female boxer in the world.
She has been upgraded by the WBC from their interim featherweight champion to the holder of their full championship, in addition to holding the WBO belt.
Those two titles will be at stake when she fights Bermudez, the reigning IBF super-bantamweight champion who will step up in weight.
Serrano’s upgrade by the WBC comes because Jelena Mrdjenovich, the former champion, was named as ’emeritus champion’ during her absence from the ring due to personal issues.
New York-based Serrano has held world championships in seven weight divisions and has 39 wins from 41 fights.
She won her featherweight belts in 2019 against Heather Hardy, a fellow New Yorker, in a major fight for women’s boxing.
She was since considered as an opponent for Taylor in 2020 but a deal could not be struck.
Serrano won her most recent fight inside a round in December.
Taylor, meanwhile, is the undisputed lightweight champion and is seeking to return in April after twice defending her belts last year, including in a grudge rematch against Delfine Persoon.
Natasha Jonas, Jessica McCaskill and Cecilia Braekhus have been mooted as potential foes for Taylor later in 2021.
“She wants challenges, the big fights,” said Taylor’s promoter Eddie Hearn.
McCaskill, who lost to Taylor in 2017 but has since become the undisputed welterweight champion, said: “I exposed a lot of her downfalls as a boxer. Then, everybody wanted to fight her.
“We gave Katie a great fight and almost knocked her out with a left hook.”
