Amanda Serrano has relinquished her WBC featherweight title following a dispute with the WBC. The sanctioning body refused to sanction Serrano’s October 27th fight with Danila Ramos, resulting in her defending just three of her world titles, as the WBC belt was made unavailable by the WBC. The WBC did not sanction the featherweight title fight because they did not approve of women fighting in 12-round bouts held over a course of 3 minutes. Based on their reasoning and decision, Serrano has dropped her WBC belt in protest.
Amanda Serrano (46-2-1, 30 KO’s) and Danila Ramos (12-3, 1 KO’s) became the first female boxers to fight a title match of 12 rounds and 3 minutes on October 27th. Serrano won the match by unanimous decision to retain three of her world featherweight titles, yet the WBC was not available to be defended during the bout after the sanctioning body refused to sanction it.
Amanda Serrano has now decided to firmly stand her ground on the matter as she fights for the 12×3 format that is customary for men’s title bouts and important matches, yet not ruled in the same manner for women. She has now vacated her WBC featherweight title and clarified her decision in an Instagram post where she listed off her achievements in the sport and the reasoning for her decision.
“I love boxing. I have given my life to this sport. No phone, no boyfriend, no parties. Just boxing. I am the only boxer, male or female, from Puerto Rico to become an undisputed champion,” stated Serrano.
“I am the only female boxer to have won titles in 7 divisions. I am the first female boxer, along with Katie Taylor, to headline Madison Square Garden. I am the first female boxer to make 7 figures from a fight and the same from sponsors. And I am the first undisputed female champion to fight 12×3 minute rounds.
“Moving forward, if a sanctioning body doesn’t want to give me and my fellow fighters the choice to fight the same as the men, then I will not be fighting for that sanctioning body. The WBC has refused to evolve the sport for equality. So, I am relinquishing their title.
“Thank You to the sanctioning bodies who have evolved for Equality! If you want to face me in the ring, you have a choice. I’ve made mine. Thank you to all of my fellow fighters who have stood with me. Thank you to my team. Thank you to my fans. And above all, thank you God. I’m blessed.“
The WBC, having been the only sanctioning body not to approve of the 12 3-minute rounds for Amanda Serrano’s featherweight title fight with Danila Ramos, clarified their stance on the matter in September through a now-deleted Tweet made by WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman.
“Tennis: Women play three sets. Basketball: The basket is shorter, and the ball is smaller, and those are not contact sports. We stand by the safety and well-being of the fighters,” Sulaiman was said to have written on his Twitter account.
While the WBC does use relevant examples to explain their decision, the other sanctioning bodies have likely conducted their research to approve of the 12 3-minute round format in women’s boxing, suggesting that the WBC has not done enough thorough research on this matter, as none of the sanctioning bodies benefit from making the sport more dangerous by increasing the number of rounds and minutes, as Sulaiman appears to suggest in his Tweet to justify his organization’s stance.
With the WBC featherweight belt now vacant, WBC featherweight interim champion Skye Nicolson (9-0, 1 KO’s) now stands at the precipice of being promoted to the full WBC featherweight champion. Nicolson won the title just recently after defeating opponent Lucy Wildheart (10-3, 4 KO’s) by stoppage; which would count as the first KO on Nicolson’s record.
