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Amanda Serrano Takes On Heather Hardy At The Center Of The Universe: It Is Time For Some Respect

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By Anthony “Zute” George

Women’s boxing has been around much longer than you might think. As far back as 1944, Jo-Ann Hagen and Bonnie Waters squared off in Iowa. The ladies provided the fans with wild action, as the paid spectators cheered in approval at the sight of these two females trying to knock each out. Giving the crowd their money’s worth is not an anomaly with women’s boxing. However, what is equally incongruent is the respect that is given to women’s boxing.

Women getting equal respect for shedding the same blood, sweat, and tears that men do could be like catching confetti. Back in 1944, there was much resistance to making the Hagen and Waters fight. Such bile like ‘boxing is not for girls’ and ‘their body parts just get in the way’, was spewed by the promoter of the event. In addition to that disrespect, there was no decision rendered for the fight and the women were paid peanut shells for their efforts, especially Bonnie Waters.

Fast forward to 2019, and women’s boxing is still treated as more of a rash than an ointment. While there have been some strides of respect, such as a new wing open for women boxers at the International Boxing Hall of Fame (I wonder how many old-timers have objected?), women boxers get nowhere near the respect they deserve. The respect given to them is nowhere near congruent to the crowd-pleasing efforts they put forth. Mixed Martial Arts, a sport that has nothing close to the history of boxing, have women on equal footing with the men of their sport in terms of fighting the same number of minutes in rounds and headlining cards. Will boxing ever catch up?

On September 13 Amanda Serrano takes on Heather “The Heat” Hardy at The Madison Square Garden Theater in New York City. A spectacular match that should be getting more attention than it is receiving; worthy enough to be the main event.

Both females are on the top of their game, and the winner has a chance to be a true face for boxing, separate from gender. Indeed, both fighters have done enough to warrant that status already but to win a super fight of this nature is what earns the men of the sport that special status and this fight should be no exception. Both Serrano and Hardy are easy on the eyes as well; therefore, just like when men boxers are good-looking like Art Aragon, Oscar De La Hoya, Ray Leonard, Ryan Garcia and the like, they are that more marketable.

Serrano is already one of the biggest names in women’s boxing, and, unlike most of her peers, she comes with that extra caveat of having a great knockout percentage. Just like many of the men, when you present with having dynamite with both hands, you get more high-level opportunities. It is worth mentioning that I believe that women boxers would have better knockout percentages if they fought three-minute rounds like the men do.

Heather “The Heat” Hardy is also a well-respected female boxer. She is undefeated, and her fights with rival Shelly Vincent were phenomenal. Hardy also has cross-over appeal from fighting as an MMA fighter with Bellator MMA.

Serrano against Hardy is a fight fans dream come true. On paper, it is a very even fight, with Serrano’s power being a great X-factor. Mark Jones, highly regarded as the best expert on women’s boxing said this of the fight, “Amanda Serrano is nearly a conscious favorite to lift the WBO World female featherweight title from Heather Hardy on September 13, but as formidable as Serrano’s armor is, it does contain kinks. Serrano doesn’t stop A-level boxers (Rivas, Zarika, and Wallberg) and can have difficulty with opponents who possess good lateral movement. If Hardy’s chin holds up against Serrano’s bombs, her excellent movement and medium to long-range boxing ability could make for a close fight.”

Everything I have seen from Heather Hardy suggests that her chin is more than up for the task, but Amanda Serrano might have something to say about that.

Whoever wins this exciting matchup on September 13th at The Madison Square Garden Theater is going to have to walk on fire. As participants in a sport that has often treated them like dirt, they both should be up for the task.

Stay tuned…

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