Devin Haney and Zaur Abdullaev was the headline tonight at the Hulu Theatre, in Madison Square Garden, but Heather Hardy (22-1, 4 KOs) and Amanda Serrano (37-1-1, 27 KOs) stole the show.
The two women had plenty to fight for as they battled it out for Hardy’s WBO Featherweight title.
Both women went to war from the opening bell. There was no feel-out round needed as they stood in the middle of the ring and traded heavy leather. It was a puzzling game plan for Hardy as she isn’t known for her knockout power. For Serrano, it went exactly how she wanted it to go.
The opening round was a big one for Serrano as she got the better of the exchanges. Left’s and right’s clipped Hardy and made her stumble around the ring.
A large cut opened up near the right side of Hardy’s forehead as she was taking a pounding for the entire first round. It seemed like she was on her way to a stoppage loss. She somehow made it to the end of the round.
The following round was a much better one for Hardy as she realized that trading with Serrano was not a good idea. She began to use her legs to move around the ring and potshot Serrano.
Serrano may have looked very good in the opening round, but it seemed like it took a lot out of her. The punches she landed on Hardy didn’t have nearly the same effect that they once did.
These two women went to war for the duration of the fight. Hardy showed incredible heart as she absorbed some big blows. The action never slowed down even when we got to the championship rounds.
Unfortunately for Hardy, she seemed to be slowing down as the contest waned. Serrano attempted to put the pedal to the medal in the last round, but Hardy managed to survive.
The crowd gave a huge applause as the final bell was rang. The judges were all in agreement with the winner of this contest. One judge scored the bout 98-92, while the remaining two had it 98-91, all in favor of Serrano who is now the WBO champion at Featherweight.
