Amanda Serrano has led a career more than worthy of a starring role any time she is in the ring.
That said, the seven-division titlist is admittedly still thrown off by the supporting cast for her homecoming headliner.
Serrano will defend her lineal and unified WBA, IBF, IBO and WBO featherweight championship versus Berlin’s Nina Meinke. The scheduled twelve-round bout will top the bill for a March 2 DAZN show from Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan that will include Jake Paul in the co-feature slot versus a secured opponent who will be revealed by the end of the month.
The role reversal comes after Serrano has fought in the co-main event for three shows headlined by Paul.
“I’m used to performing, sitting in the crowd and watching Jake perform,” Serrano admitted during a press conference held Thursday in San Juan to formally announce the event. “Now I have to watch him and then go out and perform. “I’m going to be a nervous wreck in the locker room.”
The undercard will also feature two boxers managed by Serrano: WBO junior flyweight titlist Jonathan ‘Bomba’ Gonzalez (27-3-1, 14KOs), who defends versus fellow Boricua and interim WBO titlist Rene Santiago; and first-year junior bantamweight prospect Krystal Rosado (2-0, 1KO), whose bout versus Gloria Munguilla (5-0, 2KOs) will also be fought at three-minute rounds but in a four-round affair.
The arrangement to have Serrano—a 34-year-old Brooklyn-bred southpaw who lives in Carolina—take the lead for their fourth shared card together was insisted upon by Paul (8-1, 5KOs). The 27-year-old influencer and rising cruiserweight lives in nearby Dorado but wants this night to be all about his company’s (Most Valuable Promotions) first and highest-profile signee.
Serrano (46-2-1, 30KOs) has fought just four times before on her beloved island. The stacked event for her latest main event was perfectly timed, as she will enter her 50th pro bout of a 15-year career that has seen her win at least one title at every weight from junior bantamweight all the way through junior welterweight.
More history was accomplished last February by Serrano, who became Puerto Rico’s first-ever undisputed champion after her blood-soaked points win over Erika Cruz at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater in New York City. Two fights later, Serrano stood firm on her bouts taking place over twelve, three-minute rounds rather than the ten, two-minute round distance normally afforded women’s title fights.
The same terms will apply to the IBF mandatory title defense versus Meinke (18-3, 4KOs) for Serrano’s first fight in P.R. since a March 2021 ninth-round stoppage of three-division champ Daniela Bermudez in Old San Juan.
Paul and MVP co-founder Nakisa Bidarian wanted to make the night a special one for the island, for which he was more than content to play a supporting role.
“He told me flat out, no way that he was going to be the main event here,” Serrano said of the conversation she had with Paul, with whom she signed in 2021. “So not only do I have to watch him, I have to watch Krystal [Rosado], Bomba [Gonzalez] as well. But I’m going to be ready to perform.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. X (formerly Twitter): @JakeNDaBox