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Another option awaits Amanda Serrano-Erika Cruz’s Undisputed Featherweight Championship winner.
All four major sanctioning bodies have approved their respective belts to be contested at the DAZN Main Event on February 4 at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Brooklyn’s Serrano will defend his direct, WBC, IBF, IBO and WBO featherweight titles, while Mexico City’s Cruz will target his WBA title.
The WBO was the last sanctioning body to conditionally approve the bout. 1, 9KOs) were also legally required to protect their rights. Avenues now exist for the Argentinian boxer to receive the mandatory shot, but only if Cruz gets the win.
Serrano’s win sets up a much-anticipated spring rematch with undisputed lightweight champion Ireland’s Katie Taylor (22-0, 6KOs).
“The WBO World Championships Committee is pleased to announce that it will grant sanction approval on this matter.
Matter Bout Saturday, February 4, 2023 at Madison Square Garden [Hulu] WBO Championship Committee Chairman Luis Battista Salas notified event promoter Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing in an official letter, a copy of which was obtained by BoxingScene.com. “Sanctions are granted in accordance with the following provisions:
– (i) The Commission reserves the right to order the enforcement of compulsory title defenses.
– (ii) If Ms. Cruz wins the bout, she will face WBO Interim Featherweight Champion Brenda Caravajal within 120 days thereafter, ending her Interim Championship status and becoming the only champion in the WBO Women’s Featherweight Division; must be determined.When
– (iii) If Serrano wins the match, the Committee will allow Serrano to be promoted to the Lightweight Division. [pursue] A rematch with Katie Taylor of the Undisputed Lightweight Championships.
Serrano (43-2-1, 30 KOs) will look to become Puerto Rico’s first-ever undisputed men’s and women’s champions with a victory on February 4. A career long quest to achieve that level of history motivated the record setting. In September 2019 she returned to featherweight as her 7th division champion and won her third title with her 10 round win over Heather Hardy, also from Brooklyn at her MSG Theater. .
The win was also at stake for the WBC’s interim title, which was upgraded to full title status when Jelena Murjenovic was unavailable during a title consolidation clash in 2021. . PR — His three most successful careers in the current reign, including his 10-round win over undefeated IBF champion Sara Mafhood in a unification bout in Manchester, England last September 24. doing defense.
Prior to his match with Mahfud, Serrano was scheduled to face Argentina’s Caravajal on August 6 in MSG’s main room. The show was canceled after the Jake Paul-Hashim Rahman Jr. main event collapsed due to a weight mismatch.
Karavajal hasn’t fought since last May 13 when she won the interim WBO title with a 10-round majority victory over Deborah Anahi Dionysius in San Lorenzo, Argentina. The fight came two weeks after Serrano fell short in a split decision in Taylor’s favor in the historic Lightweight Championship clash on April 30. Serrano was in danger of being stripped of her featherweight title by the WBO (according to sanctions ordinances as a condition allowing her to fight at another weight), but thanks to her ‘WBO Super Champion’ status. , was allowed to keep her throne.
Cruz (15-1, 3 KOs) has retained the WBA title since technically defeating Mrjenovic in April 2021 at West Point, NY. Two successful defenses followed, including Mrdjenovich’s 10-round shutout in a rematch as part of the September 3 DAZN show from Hermosillo, Mexico.
An upset win on February 4 would cement her status as the featherweight champion, but she has four months to go into a title consolidation clash with Karavajal, according to a WBO ruling. Serrano’s victory leaves Caravajal with the option of waiting for Taylor Serrano II, scheduled for May, or making an optional defense to avoid further outages.
Jake Donovan is a Senior Writer at BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
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