Fight Week: Amanda Serrano vs. Erika Cruz highlights big card in NYC; Emanuel Navarrete to seek another belt

FIGHT WEEK

Amanda Serrano vs. Erika Cruz highlights a big night for women’s boxing Saturday in New York. On Friday, Emanuel Navarrete will face Liam Wilson for a vacant 130-pound title Friday in Arizona.

EMANUEL NAVARRETE (36-1, 30 KOS) VS. LIAM WILSON (11-1, 7 KOS)

• When: Friday, Feb. 3
• Time: 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT (main event later in show)
• Where: Desert Diamond Arena, Glendale, Arizona
• TV/Stream: ESPN, ESPN+
• Division: Junior lightweights (130 pounds)
• At stake: Vacant WBO title
• Pound-for-pound ranking: None
• Odds: Navarrete 11½-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)

• Also on the card: Arnold Barboza vs. Jose Pedraza, junior welterweights; Andres Cortes vs. Luis Melendez, junior lightweights; Xavier Martinez vs. Yohan Vasquez, junior lightweights
• Prediction: Navarrete KO 9
• Background: Navarrete has already conquered two divisions. Now the 28-year-old Mexican is going for a third. He’ll be making his debut at 130 pounds when he faces Wilson for the vacant WBO title, which would give him belts in both the featherweight and junior lightweight divisions simultaneously. He’s not ranked by the WBO. He received the opportunity to fight for the 130-pound title because he holds a 126-pound belt. The high-volume puncher reportedly won’t make a decision on the weight at which he’ll fight long term until after the fight on Friday. Navarrete hasn’t lost since he was outpointed in his fifth professional fight, in 2012. He was last in the ring this past August, when he stopped Eduardo Baez in six rounds. Wilson is taking a significant step up in opposition. He’s an obscure Australian who has only 12 pro bouts and has never fought outside his native country. The WBO’s No. 3 contender has won two consecutive fights since he was knocked out in five rounds by Filipino Joe Noynay in July 2021. Wilson is tall for the division, 5-foot-9.

AMANDA SERRANO (43-2-1, 30 KOS) VS. ERIKA CRUZ (15-1, 3 KOS)

• When: Saturday, Feb. 4
• Time: 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT (main event later in show)
• Where: Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York
• TV/Stream: DAZN
• Division: Featherweight (126 pounds)
• At stake: Serrano’s IBF, WBC, WBO and Cruz’s WBA titles
• Odds: Serrano 5-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)
• Also on the card: Amanda Serrano vs. Erika Cruz, featherweights (for Serrano’s IBF, WBC, WBO and Cruz’s WBA titles); Alycia Baumgardner vs. Elhem Mekhaled, junior lightweights (for Baumgardner’s undisputed championship); Richardson Hitchins vs. John Bauza, junior welterweights; Reshat Mati vs. Keith Hunter, junior welterweights; Skye Nicolson vs. Tania Alvarez, featherweights; Ramla Ali vs. Avril Mathie, junior featherweights
• Prediction: Serrano UD
• Background: The card features two women’s fights in which undisputed championships will be on the line. Serrano, among the best female fighters pound-for-pound, is the star of the show. The 34-year-old product of Brooklyn has won major titles in seven divisions and continues to perform at an elite level even though she bounces up and down the weight classes. She lost a split decision to undisputed 135-pound champ Katie Taylor last April but rebounded to outpoint Sarah Mahfoud in defense of her 126-pound titles in September, her most-recent fight. Cruz, a 32-year-old from Mexico, is no pushover. She defeated Jelena Mrdjenovich by a technical decision (after the latter was cut) in 2021 and then shut her out in the rematch two fights later this past September, proving that she’s among the best in the business. Baumgardner (13-1, 7 KOs) is coming off her defining victory, a close decision over Mikaela Mayer to capture the IBF, WBC and WBO 130-pound titles last October. Elhem Mekhaled (15-1, 3 KOs) is coming off a unanimous-decision loss to Delfine Persoon last May, which makes it difficult to understand why she’s getting this opportunity.

ALSO FIGHTING THIS WEEK

THURSDAY, FEB. 2

• Erik Bazinyan vs. Alantez Fox, super middleweights, Montreal, ESPN+.