RESULTS: AMANDA SERRANO UNIFIES AT FEATHERWEIGHT; ALYCIA BAUMGARDNER UNIFIES AT JR. LIGHTWEIGHT

By: Jay Calderon

On Saturday at The Theater in New York's Madison Square Garden, and live on DAZN, Amanda Serrano made history, earning a decision over a very game Erika Cruz Hernandez, and becoming the undisputed Featherweight champion of the world.

Serrano came out confidently in the first, standing in the pocket and getting good blows to a seemingly timid Cruz. However, Cruz was throwing much better in the second, landing looping shots during exchanges. Still, a left hand by Serrano near the end of the frame seemed to stun Cruz momentarily.

In the third, Serrano was more on the backfoot, with Cruz looking to come in and land a wide right hand. However, after a decent round for the Mexican, an accidental clash of heads opened up a massive gash in the middle of Cruz' forehead.

Perhaps sensing the urgency, Cruz came out looking to step forward and landed a solid overhand right. However, as the round progressed, it was Serrano coming forward, scoring with a big left hand upstairs, followed by one from the same hand to the body. Still, a very close frame to score.

A solid right hand landed for Serrano to start the fifth, but Cruz replied with a busier work rate. While she wasn't landing with huge power, Cruz was throwing what felt like twice the volume of her counterpart as the frame wore on.

Starting off the second half of the fight, Serrano decided to let her hands go a bit more, as she stepped in and was moving backwards far less. Both fighters, due to the clash of heads as well as the punches they were both throwing, were busted up, but not deterred.

Then, in the second half of the round, Serrano landed with a big left hand that stunned Cruz. Cruz was wobbled, but managed to survive the frame on shaky legs.

After a delay to start the eighth due to a spill in the corner of Cruz, the pair of athletes continued to wage war. The were trading violently in the first minute, but Serrano was landing the harder, more telling blows now. She was moving far less, and Cruz was feeling the impact of Serrano sitting down on her shots. Another big left hand near the end of the round seemed to stun Cruz.

Cruz was far less active in the eighth, with perhaps the power of Serrano and the blood in her eyes not allowing her to get her best work done. Serrano possibly stole the work by landing a few more clean shots from a better range.

A doctor checked the cut of Cruz prior to the start of the ninth, but she was deemed fit to continue and action rolled on. Cruz was head-hunting much more than previously, looking to land one big shot at a time. The faster, better arched shots of Serrano were scoring with more regularity, making Cruz' face a bloody mask. Still, Cruz did manage a solid shot down the stretch, showing she was still alive.

In the final round of action, Cruz was determined to give all she had left. Cruz was throwing everything she had at Serrano, who weathered the storm, and scored with big blows on the inside. The DAZN logo in the center of the ring was splattered with the blood of both fighters, and neither seemed to care. Both Serrano and Cruz went out swinging hard in the final ten seconds, before nearing collapsing into each other's arms during a post-fight embrace.

In the end, the scores were 98-92 twice and 97-93, all in favor of Amanda Serrano. JOB had it 97-93 in favor of Serrano. With the victory, Serrano improved to 44-2-1 with 30KOs and unified the entire Featherweight division. She becomes the first Puerto Rican fighter, male or female, to become undisputed in the sport of boxing. Cruz dropped to 15-2 with the loss.

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In the co-featured bout of the evening, Alycia Baumgardner earned a decision over Elhem Mekhaled, completely unifying the Jr. Lightweight division over ten rounds.

Baumgardner started off boxing in the first, with Mekhaled was stalking, looking to land something hurtful. Mekhaled did well in the second, landing a clean right hand and possibly stealing the relatively close round.

In the third, Mekhaled was still coming forward, and forced Baumgardner to stand and trade a bit more. However, when that happened, Baumgardner landed a big right hand that hurt Mekhaled, and dropped her. While Mekhaled beat the count, she was dropped once more by the follow-up barrage.

Baumgardner attempted to finish matters there, but she may have punched herself out by the end of the frame. In the fourth, Baumgardner appeared to take the round off to catch her breath, giving Mekhaled enough time to recover and get her legs back underneath her.

In the fifth, both seemed to resettle into the affair, with Baumgardner sitting on her shots a bit more, mostly controlling the action. In the following frame, the action was a bit more back and forth, with neither landing too much of note.

In between rounds, Baumgardner was told to stop loading up so much, and put more of her work together. She somewhat followed that advice in the seventh, coming out and landing a big left hand and combination soon thereafter. Still, Mekhaled stayed upright, landing a few decent shots down the stretch.

In the eighth and ninth frames, Mekhaled seemed to have some of her most sustained success. Baumgardner was landing well enough, but Mekhaled was busier, outworking her foe and really pressing the action. By the end of the ninth, Baumgardner was visibly breathing hard.

In the final frame, Mekhaled was still coming forward, landing a solid uppercut and just keeping the tempo high. Still, to her credit, Baumgardner pushed through the fatigue and managed to finish the round a bit stronger of the pair.

In the end, the judges had it 99-89 twice, and 98-90, all in favor of Alycia Baumgardner. JOB scored it for Baumgardner, 96-92. Baumgardner improved to 14-1 with 7KOs, becoming the undisputed Jr. Lightweight titlist in the process. Mekhaled dropped to 15-2.

OTHER RESULTS:

Richardson Hitchens def. John Bauza, 10UD (Jr. Welterweight)

Skye Nicolson def. Tania Alvarez, 10UD (Featherweight)

To check out the rest of the results, click here.

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