Amanda Serrano will return to defend her WBA and WBO featherweight titles this Saturday, but her homecoming bout in San Juan has seen a fair few issues in the run-up.
First, originally scheduled opponent Erika Cruz was taken out of the bout two weeks ago after an “atypical” drug test finding. Serrano vs Cruz was going to be a rematch of a pretty entertaining featherweight title fight from 2023, and it was also set to be a Puerto Rico vs Mexico bout of some note, which can always be a plus for getting customers to pay at the gate and give the TV people a way to fill some time with video packages and the like.
With Cruz out, Reina Tellez has stepped in. But Tellez missed weight — not by much, but by enough — and now the titles are on the line for Serrano only. The fight will go on, but all in all it’s not the best start to boxing in 2026.
Serrano vs Tellez prediction
Serrano (47-4-1, 31 KO) is 37 years old now and it’s worth remembering that she’s coming back down in weight. She fought her last three bouts a bit north of 135 lbs, technically at 140, two of them undisputed title losses to Katie Taylor. Amanda actually hasn’t made the featherweight limit since October 2023, when she shut out Danila Ramos over 12 rounds in Orlando.
But it also has to be remembered that Serrano’s entire career and legacy has been built on going up and down in weight, sometimes quite drastically, collecting belts. In order, she’s won world titles at 130, 135, 126, 122, 118, 140, 115, and 126 again, with further challenges at 135 and 140 that came up short. She even did that 140 -> 115 move in consecutive fights, which, look, that would be insane on the men’s side of the sport, and while Yamila Reynoso and Eva Voraberger weren’t exactly Katie Taylor-level foes, they were still world title fights.
I do think Serrano has faded just a smidge in recent years, but she is still a top five or so pound-for-pound fighter. You could argue her top three, and if you have her outside of the top five it’s not by much. She’s had an excellent career and is headed for the Hall of Fame.
Tellez (13-0-1, 5 KO) is more of a mystery. She’s 22 years old, born in Florida and now fighting out of San Antonio, and hasn’t been near the world level yet. This is a big, big step up for her on paper and the footage available probably won’t blow you away.
She has some skills and some potential, but you’re looking at her against opponents who just aren’t near Serrano’s level, and my feeling watching is that Tellez isn’t on Serrano’s level, either. But she fights with some heart, she’s willing to mix it up. That’s good for the fans, potentially, but it could also be her undoing against the far more experienced Serrano, whose skill set runs a lot deeper than that of Poke or any other opponent Tellez has faced.
I do like to be very clear that you don’t know until you know with boxing. Until you see someone in at the higher levels, you are, to whatever degree, just guessing how they will respond when they get there. You can make an educated guess when there’s a lot of footage and someone has gone step-to-step on the way to getting that first crack, and this isn’t one of those cases, but I still feel pretty confident on what I’ve seen that Serrano will get the job done in pretty one-sided fashion.
The last time Serrano faced an opponent at this level, she blasted Stevie Morgan out inside of two rounds. Tellez is younger and probably better prepared. I’m picking Serrano, but I’ve liked what I’ve heard from Tellez in interviews and stuff, and you can even go back to several years ago, when she was 15 years old and getting a little local attention in San Antonio, and see that this is someone serious about her career, and has been for a long time. If nothing else, this could be an excellent learning experience and chance for Tellez to grow as a pro. Prediction: Amanda Serrano by decision
Han vs Holm and more
Stephanie Han vs Holly Holm
Han (11-0, 3 KO) will have her highest-profile fight to date, as the 35-year-old WBA lightweight titlist takes on the first opponent of her career who has double digit wins and a record above the .500 mark.
The 44-year-old Holm (34-2-3, 9 KO) will be looking to win her first world title in boxing in over a decade. She missed the years where the women’s side of the sport started to rise up following the 2016 Olympics especially, when the women started getting enough attention and promotional care that one of the world’s best might not have had to have every fight at the Route 66 Casino in Albuquerque. But she obviously wasn’t just sitting around, either; Holly was off doing quite well for herself in the MMA world, going 15-7 overall and having 15 fights (8-7) in UFC, including her famous thrashing of Ronda Rousey back in 2015.
Harry Aaron/Most Valuable Promotions
“The Preacher’s Daughter” returned to the squared circle last June in Anaheim, winning a clean, 10-round shutout over Yolanda Vega, part of the Jake Paul vs Julio Cesar Chavez Jr card, meaning she came back to boxing and immediately jumped into MVP’s pool, which is smart, because MVP are clearly in pretty firm control of women’s boxing at this point.
You have to wonder how well Holm will do at her age, having been out of boxing so long, all that — but I’m picking her in this fight. On the one hand, Han doesn’t have the miles and years on her that Holm does. On the other hand, she doesn’t have anywhere near Holm’s experience, and I just don’t think Holly is so worn down that Han will be able to take six of 10 rounds from her. That experience is big when things like punching power just aren’t as important; when the fundamentals and the muscle memory matter most, someone like Holly Holm can absolutely come back and still win a world title, and I think that’s exactly what she’ll do on Saturday. Prediction: Holly Holm by decision
Yankiel Rivera vs Jonathan “Bomba” Gonzalez
Rivera (7-0-1, 3 KO) looked like a real rising contender at flyweight, and he still might be. The 28-year-old Bayamon native had an awful fight last time out, though, a majority draw with Angelino Cordova, which without a knockdown and point off — or, well, without one of them — would have resulted in a narrow win for Cordova. But they happened, and Rivera escaped with an “0” but adding a “1” at the end. And Cordova’s not an easy guy to fight, being fair.
It was a dent in Rivera’s stock, but he has a chance to bounce back, look better, and start 2026 bright. Gonzalez (28-4-1, 14 KO) hasn’t been in the ring since October 2024, when he suffered a first round injury that led to a stoppage loss to Anthony Olascuaga. The former 108 lb titlist is talented and experienced, but he’s also 34 years old, coming off of a long layoff, and has never had the best chin. Rivera’s not a huge puncher or anything, but neither was Jobert Alvarez. “Bomba” was better at 108 than he was at 112, and this is a move back up to 112.
I’m going with the younger man here, but I think this might be a toss-up fight and it will depend entirely on what sort of form Gonzalez has after the break in action, returning from injury, fighting again at 112 where he is 6-4 in meaningful fights where he actually had to make the 112 lb limit. Prediction: Yankiel Rivera by decision
