Boxing world champion Amanda Serrano had been planning to move on to a career as a mixed martial artist, but that has been put on hold for a couple of more months.
Serrano spoke with Puerto Rican newspaper Primera Hora and revealed her MMA debut is on hold until March because of the opportunity to fight on the January 20 Showtime Boxing card at the Barclays Center.
"The MMA [debut] has been postponed for March, since we got presented with this offer to fight for another title at the Barclays Center and we accepted. I have the opportunity to win another boxing world title and that has me emotional," Serrano said.
Serrano, who is the only Puerto Rican boxer in history to win a world title in five different weight classes, will be competing on the card in a WBO Female super bantamweight title match. An opponent has yet to be named for Serrano. The card is headlined by the IBF welterweight title fight between Errol Spence Jr. and Lamont Peterson.
"Regardless of the result for the fight on January 20, I want to dedicate my body and soul to MMA. There's not much else to do in boxing, so 2018 will be my last year [as a boxer]. I want to give a shot at MMA for two or three years so I can retire at 32 years old and enjoy what I have accomplished," Serrano said.
The 29-year-old Serrano made her professional boxing debut in 2009, amassing a 34-1-1 record. Serrano won world titles at featherweight, super featherweight, bantamweight, super bantamweight and lightweight. If she goes to MMA, Serrano joins a list of successful female boxers to make the jump to mixed martial arts, including Heather Hardy and Holly Holm.