Amanda Serrano: ‘This Is Business’

AMANDA SERRANO QUOTES

On the recent Anthony Joshua accident

“I also want to say my condolences and respect for what happened with AJ. His best friends passed away. So I want them to rest in peace and AJ to have a full speedy recovery. My heart goes out to them and the family. I’m just praying for them.”

On fighting in Puerto Rico and how she feels ahead of Saturday 

“I’m super excited to be here. The last time I fought in Puerto Rico was right here [at Plaza del Tótem]. The ring was right here in the middle, and I got a stoppage. It was an amazing night, and I’m excited to be here again with this amazing card, amazing fighters, and amazing women. You guys are in for a treat Saturday night.”

On what emotions she expects when she steps out of the ring 

“It’s a different emotion when I fight here in Puerto Rico because the love is real and genuine…and we bring it differently. Latinos bring it differently. Boricuas bring it differently. So, it’s going to be nice, and everyone on the card is going to feel the energy in that arena. Everyone is just going to bring out the best in one another, and come Saturday night, it’s just going to be a great night. I can’t say it enough.”

On the importance of competing in three-minute rounds 

“Because we want change for the future. I’ve been in the game for 17 years, and I want these women to get the equality, get the bigger pay days, get recognition, and get platforms. With MVP, we’re definitely doing that. We’re doing that, but we need a lot more visuals. A lot more people are backing us up as well. These women, as amateurs, they’re fighting three minutes, so why not do it as a pro? They have to change their whole gameplan. They have to change their whole game and style to become professionals, but I just think it’s better for us women to be able to display our skills and our knockout power.

On Saturday night, you’ll see most of these women here are fighting three-minute rounds thanks to MVP. They’re giving us the opportunity, and I’m hoping that we can all get together and one day make a change so women’s boxing can be equal to the men’s.”

On her and Reina respect each other while being competitors 

“This is the business. We can be nice to each other outside. Obviously, you’ve seen all of my fights. I’ve never been disrespectful to any of my opponents. But when we go in there, we put in that work, and we make sure the fans get what they paid for, and we’re going to go out there. And whoever comes out victorious, we’re still going to be friends afterwards. I’m still going to be a fan of Reina’s and her sister. And I’m still going to watch her grow into the sport and the amazing champion she will be one day.”

On this potentially being her last year fighting and what moments stand out to her 

“When I started it was a struggle. Me, my sister, and Jordan Maldonado struggled. We struggled for years in this sport. After being a professional for 13 years, Nakisa Bidarian and Jake Paul came into my life and changed it. They changed my family’s life and my bank account. So it’s been an incredible journey. Now that we have MVP, we’re helping other women in this sport, and that is something that we truly want to do and continue to open the doors for women in this sport.  I said I might [retire]. It’s been a long journey, and I just love seeing these women here grow, get the opportunities, and get better paydays. And just one fight at a time. But I do have goals, so I need the record for the knockout. Indeed, 50 wins. So there’s certain goals. I have to keep on going.”

On her thoughts on Jake Paul’s fight with Anthony Joshua 

“All I have to say is Jake Paul has some cajones to go out there and even take that fight. I always thought that there’s something special in Jake, and for him to even take that fight on pretty much short notice is pretty insane. But he did it, he went out there, he fought the way he was supposed to fight, but this is boxing…a punch is a punch, and it was a hard punch. You saw what happened, but the craziest thing is he wants to come back to this sport. He doesn’t need to, but hey, I love Jake Paul. I love him and his family, what he’s done for us, for women’s boxing, and what he’s doing for boxing in general.”

On what Jake Paul is doing for boxing and boxing in Puerto Rico 

“There’s 22 gyms for boxing bullies that he opened up. The second one that we were at for the media workout was under my name, and I truly love what he’s doing for all the young kids in Puerto Rico because now they have an outlet. Now, they have a place they can go without staying in the streets or doing anything bad, and they have gyms they can go to and do something productive. Maybe one day we will have multiple world champions coming from the island, but it’s not just Puerto Rico…it’s all over the world.”

On what she wants her legacy to be in Puerto Rico 

“I want to be remembered as a game changer, as someone who is helping the sport of women’s boxing and just sports in general, as well, because we’re women. And all of a sudden… I was just telling Stephanie Han, and hearing Ebanie, she just had a baby. Women, we go through so much more than what men do, and they’re moms first. First, they’re women, then moms, and then Stephanie Han is a police officer because you have to have a job in the beginning. Women had to have a job. We had to get a 9-5 because we weren’t getting paid the way we are getting paid now. It’s still not the best, but now everyone is getting paid the best. I’ve been blessed, but we have our lives as well. I want to see women’s boxing just grow. I want to see women be able to concentrate just on boxing, just on the sport and their craft, and get what they deserve and get the pay that they deserve.”

On what is needed from other promoters to achieve a better sense of gender equality in boxing 

“Just keep watching MVP. Just keep watching how they do it, and then they’ll learn. Just take a page out of their book and just continue to help, push, and empower women. Some people just don’t want to empower women. I’m one of the women I love. I’m an empowered woman that loves to empower other women. That’s what MVP’s been about since the very beginning. I’m super happy and blessed that I showed Nakisa [ Bidarian] and Jake Paul that women can fight. I made them believers in women, and look at us today. We have a roster of how many women? It keeps growing and growing, so I’m super excited for that, and we continue to show that women can fight. Women want equality, and we want to do what the men do. I’m just excited, and come Saturday night, you’re going to have a great show of amazing women. We have a great card, and I’m excited for Puerto Rico.”

On how she ignores her admiration for Reina to try to hurt her on Saturday 

“At the end of the day, it’s a fight. She bleeds how I bleed, everybody does, so I feel like I give her the utmost respect, but at the same time, it’s a fight, and I’m not going to let that get in the way because at the end of the day, it is a fight and there’s a lot on the line.”

REINA TELLEZ QUOTES

On what motivates her and what she expects this Saturday 

“First of all, Puerto Rico is beautiful. I’ve never been here. When I got the call, I was shocked. Someone [Amanda Serrano] I’ve watched my whole life. I think she fought for her first world title when I first started boxing. It tells the tale. I’m extremely grateful to be on this platform, but let alone fight somebody I watched growing up and just in my career. It’s just crazy to say sometimes I just think about it, and I can’t fully process it because it’s real. I didn’t think I would be in this position, let alone this year. When they gave me the call, I took the opportunity and just jumped on it, and we’re doing what we can do.”

On how long it took to think through and accept this fight, and why it’s the right time

“It took me about a day. I knew that opportunities like this come once in a lifetime, and you never know when it’s going to come back around. I really have nothing to lose and everything to gain. It’s a high-risk, high-reward situation, and like I said, I’m grateful for it.”

On how much it means to have this opportunity so young in her career

“It means a lot. I’ve been boxing since I was eight years old, and it means a lot to me and my family because we went through a lot. We’ve been through a lot of sacrifices just to get here. Now the day’s finally here, so we’re excited, and we’re grateful as a whole.”

On what she would like to do this Saturday, and how she would like to end the fight 

“I would just like to put the work in, that’s it. It’s my first time for 10 rounds and first time for three minutes so it’s going to be something new that I experience in my life.”

On the decision to say “yes” to this fight 

“I would say it was a big opportunity – a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It’s just something I had to say yes to because I know that if I didn’t, I would have probably regretted it.”

On if she means to run or if she will stand in front of Amanda 

“I’m going to do what the gameplan is. There’s going to be some instances where we’re going to have to fight it out, and there’s going to be times where we’re boxing.”