Amanda Serrano will turn back the clock on August 5th to face Heather Hardy with all her Featherweight titles on the line on the undercard of the event headlined by Jake Paul and former UFC star Nate Diaz. The two women had faced each other previously in 2019 in a title bout that Serrano won by UD and netted the Puerto Rican her first world title at Featherweight.
Their scheduled bout is billed as the co-main event of the August 5th card that will be held at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. After nearly four years, Amanda Serrano (44-2-1, 30 KO’s) and Heather Hardy (24-2, 4 KO’s) will meet each other in vastly different states of their careers with Hardy not having fought in a world title bout since first facing Serrano in 2019, while Serrano has gone on to become the undisputed Featherweight of the division and is still planning on rematching Katie Taylor (22-0, 6 KO’s) following the narrow split-decision loss she suffered against the Irishwoman last year in April.
Amanda Serrano offered some insights into why she chose Heather Hardy as an opponent given Hardy has been active as a Lightweight and will likely struggle to meet the demands of moving down two weight divisions.
“Some ask why? My answer: it’s a voluntary title defense and when I asked for a shot at her title she gave it to me. I try my hardest to honor what comes out my mouth and my promises.” Serrano explained her choice of opponent.
When looking at the Featherweight division, Serrano’s choice of opponent might not be too much of a stretch given a win over Heather Hardy had laid the foundations for Amanda Serrano eventually becoming undisputed. Back in September of 2019, Heather Hardy then held the WBC (Interim) and WBO titles which Serrano would hold on to for the next three years in which she further went on to become a unified champion after she was promoted to full WBC world champion at 122 lbs.
Serrano expressed the same on her Twitter account in which she lauded Heather Hardy for helping kick-start her journey to eventually becoming undisputed.
“That belt hanging on her arm was the start of my dream to become Undisputed Champion. I needed her and today she needs me to run it back! She gave me my shot, now I give it back. Just not my BELT!!” Serrano declared.
Following her first win over Hardy in 2019, Serrano went on to defeat Sarah Mahfoud (12-1, 3 KO’s) in 2019 to win the IBF title from Mahfoud, and in the beginning of this year (in February) she defeated former WBA Featherweight champion Erika Cruz (15-2, 3 KO’s) to collect the last world title in the division to officially become undisputed.
Now, Amanda Serrano has chosen to give her former opponent the opportunity to become world champion herself, in addition to potentially becoming undisputed.
Additionally, a match against Hardy allows Serrano to defend her titles in a voluntary defense in preparation for the much-awaited rematch against Katie Taylor who is set to fight later this month on May 20th. With a contract still signed and sealed between the two female champions, it is unlikely that their original planned bout for May 20th ― in which Amanda Serrano was forced to pull out due to injury, will not eventually happen, though Serrano’s match-up with Heather Hardy in August lays doubts as to whether the rematch will actually occur this year.
