{"id":55857,"date":"2015-09-12T17:09:06","date_gmt":"2015-09-12T22:09:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=55857"},"modified":"2015-09-12T17:09:06","modified_gmt":"2015-09-12T22:09:06","slug":"amanda-serrano-and-ronica-jeffrey-brooklyn-ladies-post-impressive-wins-on-long-island-boxing-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=55857","title":{"rendered":"Amanda Serrano and Ronica Jeffrey: Brooklyn Ladies Post Impressive Wins on Long Island \u2013 Boxing News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Amanda\"<\/a>By Chris \u201cMan of Few Words\u201d Benedict<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amanda \u201cThe Real Deal\u201d Serrano, born in Puerto Rico and fighting out of Brooklyn, ventured out to The Space at Westbury on a rain-drenched Thursday to take on Fatuma Zarika on a card originally conceived to feature the \u201ccomeback\u201d of Zab Judah since back-to-back 2013 losses at the hands of Danny Garcia and Paulie Malignaggi. Although Zab was on hand, it was in the ancillary role of co-promoter rather than main event boxer after his fight was called off the day before when a scuffle broke out at the weigh-in. Judah\u2019s opponent Hevinson Herrera backed out as a result of an alleged injury and it was entirely too late in the game to scare up a suitable replacement.<\/p>\n

The only drama between Serrano and Zarika would take place inside the ring. They had squared off three and a half months prior in Memphis with Serrano claiming a six-round unanimous decision and Zarika-hailing from Nairobi, Kenya-had fought to a draw with Amanda\u2019s older sister Cindy at Resorts World Casino in Queens two months before that. The five-fight winless streak (one win in her last nine) that Fatuma brought into the ring Thursday night is not indicative of the toughness and resilience represented in her overall record of 24-11-2 with 14 KOs as well as her astounding work ethic. Having engaged in four bouts in 2015 to this point, Zarika already had her next one lined up against Dina Thorslund in Denmark on Halloween night. One of those losses came against Diana Prazak, a prot\u00e9g\u00e9 of women\u2019s boxing legend Lucia Rijker, in a bid for her WIBA World super-featherweight title. Cut above her eye in round six, Zarika toughed it out for the ten round distance but came out one the short end of that decision.<\/p>\n

Serrano, meanwhile, has held the NABF, UBF, and WIBA versions of the women\u2019s featherweight title as well as wearing the IBF and UBF Intercontinental super-featherweight straps and currently sitting atop the WBO lightweight throne. Amanda\u2019s solitary loss occurred on April 27, 2012 in Linkoping, Sweden when she challenged then-WBC super-featherweight champion Frida Wallberg, who is still recovering from the terrifying effects of paralysis and memory loss suffered after being knocked out by Diana Prazak in the eighth round of their title fight in June 2014.
\nSporting a tank top advertising the movie \u201cFight Valley Knockaround Girls\u201d, which has been likened to a female \u201cFight Club\u201d that she and Cindy recently wrapped filming on, Amanda dictated the pace and style of Thursday night\u2019s brawl, confining Zarika to uncomfortably close quarters against the ropes and getting the better of their tense and powerful exchanges. With her second consecutive unanimous decision over Zarika, Amanda Serrano improved her record to 25-1-1, 18 KOs and brazenly issued open challenges to Diana Prazak and Ronda Rousey, hoping to personally dispel the UFC bantamweight champion\u2019s notion that she could \u201ceasily become a world champion if she decided to switch sport\u201d according to Rousey\u2019s trainer Edmond Tarverdyan.<\/p>\n

\"RJ\"<\/a>One night later and fourteen miles north of Westbury, \u201cQueen\u201d Ronica Jeffrey made her regal return to the ring at the Paramount in Huntington. Fighting professionally since 2008, she won her four-round debut against Karen Dulin. No sorcery or superstition was required for Ronica to rack up thirteen straight victories over the likes of Ela \u201cBam Bam\u201d Nunez, Jackie Trivilino, and Natasha Spence. In addition to having laid waste to her competition, Jeffrey also laid claim to the NABF, WBC Silver, WIBA, and IWBF super-featherweight titles. Following a one-year layoff, Ronica emerged in May 2014 to challenge Carla Torres, who she had previously beaten in her fifth fight, for the WIBA world featherweight championship at the Armory in Whitehall, New York, losing a disputed split decision.<\/p>\n

Sixteen months separated that outing from last night\u2019s contest against 5-2-1 Ontario, California native Celene Roman which had Huntington\u2019s own Gerry Cooney and Chris Algieri, as well as former New York State Athletic Commissioner Randy Gordon, behind the broadcast table for a future televised program. The power-punching Roman was admittedly befuddled by Jeffrey\u2019s speed and dexterity, unable to get her timing down as Ronica earned the hard-fought six-round decision.<\/p>\n

As long as she remains active, there is no reason why Jeffrey will not continue to be a major player in female boxing and have the world champions and higher-ranked contenders in the featherweight division all looking nervously over their shoulders.<\/p>\n

[si-contact-form form=’2′]<\/p>\n