By: Sean Crose
Amanda Serrano engaged in something new Friday night in Orlando – a woman’s title bout scheduled for twelve three minute rounds. This was unique due to the fact that women’s boxing generally consists of two minute rounds and ten round maximums for world title bouts. That all changed on Friday when the 45-2-1 Serrano took on the 12-2 Danila Ramos before DAZN cameras for the unified featherweight championship of the world.
Serrano pushed the action in the first while Ramos employed footwork. Both women were able to land in the second, but Serrano was planting the harder shots. Serrano maintained patience in the third – perhaps because of the longer round times – but was clearly the stronger of the two combatants. Ramos was certainly in the game, but she didn’t have the poise, power, or balance of Serrano. Ramos found herself in trouble in the fourth as Serrano began to land and land hard. Ramos survived the round while Serrano continued to stalk.
The fifth was interesting. Ramos was clearly able to land, and it left one to wonder how different the fight would be had Ramos had more power to her shots. Ramos was hurt again in the sixth. It appeared that she was truly being broken down as Serrano kept hunting, Julio Caesar Chavez style. Fighting behind her impressive jab, Serrano continued to dominate in the seventh. Ramos desperately tried to keep Serrano off in the eighth, to no avail.
Yet the game fighter seemed to get a second win in the ninth. Ramos may not have won the round, yet she made it clear she was game for the fight. Serrano, as always, punched hard and clean in the tenth. By the end of the round, she was working to finish her opponent off. The story of the eleventh was that Ramos, someway, somehow, kept standing up. While her courage and stamina was extraordinary, it was also clear Ramos was taking a beating.
The twelfth and final round saw Serrano looking pretty much as fresh as she did at the opening bell. Her conditioning was extraordinary. With that being said, Ramos fought bravely, as she had the entire fight. Serrano was simply too much for her. Indeed, Ramos even slipped onto the mat just past the round’s halfway point. It was no surprise, then, when Serrano walked out of the ring after the fight with a unanimous decision nod from the judges. She had made twelve three minute rounds look easy.