Amanda Serrano undisputed featherweight champion following victory over Erika Cruz; Puerto Rican will now face Ireland's Katie Taylor in a rematch in Dublin on May 20; Alycia Baumgardner floors Elhem Mekhaled twice and is now undisputed super-featherweight title holder
Sunday 5 February 2023 07:43, UK
Amanda Serrano and Alycia Baumgardner have become undisputed world champions following points victories in New York on Saturday night.
Serrano - whose rematch with undisputed lightweight world champion Katie Taylor has been announced for May 20 in Dublin - defeated Erika Cruz via unanimous decision to add the WBA featherweight title to her WBC, IBF, WBO, IBO and The Ring belts.
Baumgardner now holds all the titles in the super-featherweight division after a unanimous victory over Elhem Mekhaled, who had entered the contest as WBA champion.
Serrano was given a real scare by Cruz, who braved a nasty cut on her forehead to take the fight the distance before Serrano won 98-92, 98-92, 97-93 on the scorecards as Cruz saw her 14-fight winning streak come to an end.
Mexican star Cruz's cut was caused by an accidental head-butt in the third round after she had been the busier fighter and landed more punches across the first two.
Serrano grew stronger as the fight progressed and blood poured from Cruz's head, with the latter dropping to the canvas in the final round after a tangle of legs.
But Cruz continued to throw punches of her own at a feverish pace.
Serrano said afterwards: "She's a Mexican champion, we knew that. That's what we expected. That's what we trained for."
Baumgardner floored Mekhaled twice en route to her victory, which was her eighth in a row since a sole professional defeat to Christina Linardatou five years ago.
Mekhaled was dropped twice in the third round and hurt in the seventh as Baumgardner earned a comprehensive 99-89, 99-89, 98-90 win.
Mekhaled troubled Baumgardner at times and was arguably the better fighter in the final couple of rounds, appearing to stun the American at one point, although she was unable to earn a knockdown.
Speaking afterwards, Baumgardner said: "I showed discipline and grit. Hard work. I had to fight who I had to fight and I came out successful. I want to challenge myself. That's the only way I'm going to know where I am and how I can be better."
Other results on the card included UK-based Australian Skye Nicholson beating Tania Alvarez on points at featherweight and Somalian contender Ramla Ali outpointing Australia's Avril Mathie at junior featherweight to move closer to a title shot.
