TAMPA – Amanda Serrano not only holds the record for most divisional titles in women’s boxing but is often regarded as among the hardest punchers ever in that domain, pound-for-pound.

The Puerto Rican southpaw—who is based out of the Bushwick section of Brooklyn—has won major titles in seven weight divisions, more than any other female or for any boxer from Puerto Rico, regardless of gender. Serrano has scored knockouts at every weight but junior welterweight, where she went ten rounds in a unanimous decision victory over Yamila Reynoso to win her seventh divisional crown in September 2018.

Featherweight has proven to be the optimal weight for the 33-year-old Serrano, where she has enjoyed three separate title reigns and currently holds the WBC/WBO/IBO titles. Those belts are currently on ice, though, as she moves up two divisions to lightweight, where she hasn’t fought in more than seven years—but also where she has never gone the distance.

“I have a couple of fights at 135 and a couple of stoppages at 135,” Serrano noted during the final pre-fight press conference ahead of Saturday’s non-title fight with Spain’s Miriam Gutierrez. “It’s been a while but my power is real. I take it to whatever division I go to.”

Serrano (41-1-1, 30KOs) plans to prove just that on Saturday as part of a Showtime Pay-Per-View from AMALIE Arena in Tampa. Her 30 career knockouts are good for second-most all time by a female boxer and two shy of the record held by Hall-of-Fame trailblazer Christy Martin.

However, she went ten rounds in her last fight—a one-sided but hard-fought unanimous decision over WBC super bantamweight champion Yamileth Mercado on a Showtime PPV from Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland. She now faces a former title challenger and natural lightweight in Gutierrez (14-1, 5KOs) whose only career defeat came to undisputed lightweight queen Katie Taylor (20-0, 6KOs) last November in London.

A win by Serrano will potentially set up a blockbuster showdown with Ireland’s Taylor next spring.

The fight is on the backburner as Serrano is only focused on the task at hand. However, the thought of such a pound-for-pound clash with the Irish superstar incentivized—in a way—the decision to reacclimate to lightweight, where she hasn’t fought since a sixth-round knockout of Maria Maderna to win the WBO lightweight title in August 2014 on the road in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Serrano’s lone other fight at lightweight came in September 2013, stopping career club fighter—though naturally bigger—Kerri Hill in just over four minutes.

Gutierrez comes in well-credentialed, having spent her entire career at lightweight. The 38-year-old former title challenger enjoys a two-inch height advantage over the 5’5 ½” Serrano.  

“It’s a test for me,” admits Serrano. “She’s a natural 135-pounder. She’s a little taller, she’s bigger. It’s a test for me, too. I’m gonna go out there and see. It’s been a while so I’ll go out and test my power again.”

“The fight is very important. She’s a tough, durable fighter. She accepted the task of fighting me. That’s why I’m super focused on this fight only. There’s been a lot of upsets lately. She’s here to do the same to me. I’ve trained super hard because I know she’s a tough girl and it’s going to be a great fight.”

Serrano-Gutierrez serves as the co-feature to a scheduled eight-round cruiserweight rematch between content creator Jake Paul (4-0, 3KOs) and former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley (0-1, as a boxer).

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox