Amanda Serrano says she wants to be remembered as a “game-changer” as she prepares to end her boxing career with a farewell fight in Puerto Rico next year. The seven-division world champion will defend her unified WBO and WBA featherweight titles against Australia’s Skye Falzon in San Juan on 9 January. Promoters have called the bout “The Last Walk.”
Serrano, 38, has a record of 50 wins, four losses and one draw, with 32 knockouts. She said she wanted to enjoy every moment of her final appearance and would give the fight her all, while adding that a knockout would be a bonus. She is also pursuing the women’s knockout record, which she shares with American Christy Martin.
“I want people to remember me as a game-changer,” Serrano said at a news conference. She added that she had left everything in the ring throughout her career and hoped people had seen that commitment.
Falzon, also 38, has 12 wins and two losses, with seven knockouts. She described the opportunity to face Serrano as a dream come true, but said she was coming to try to make her own history and believed she could win. Serrano welcomed her opponent’s confidence, saying she wanted to fight the best.
Serrano is the first and only Puerto Rican boxer, male or female, to become an undisputed world champion. In 2022, she and Ireland’s Katie Taylor became the first women to headline a boxing event at New York’s Madison Square Garden. The following year, Serrano fought Brazil’s Danila Ramos in the first women’s unified world championship contested over 12 three-minute rounds, the same format as a men’s championship fight.
Serrano said her decision to retire came down to time and that she had always expected to end her career in Puerto Rico. Born in Carolina, she said she wanted fans on the island to celebrate her long journey and that she would carry their support with her into her final fight.
Sources: BBC Sport.