AMANDA SERRANO WILL face Heather Hardy in a rematch on the undercard of Jake Paul’s professional boxing match with MMA star Nate Diaz in Dallas on 5 August.

Serrano had signed to face Katie Taylor in a rematch in Dublin on 20 May before withdrawing from the bout citing injuries sustained in her 10-round epic with Erika Cruz in February.

Serrano’s team felt that the 34-year-old would not have time to sufficiently recover from her bruising undisputed featherweight title victory before beginning an eight- to 10-week training camp to prepare for a Taylor sequel in Dublin. They insist, however, that Serrano will pursue another fight with Taylor later this year.

The Puerto Rican-born puncher [44-2-1, 30KOs] will firstly rematch her fellow Brooklynite, Heather Hardy [24-2, 4KOS], 11 weeks after Taylor’s bid to become a two-weight undisputed champion against Chantelle Cameron at the 3Arena.

Serrano originally beat Hardy resoundingly in September 2019, almost stopping her in the first round only for the brave ‘Heat’ to eventually survive 10 one-sided rounds before relinquishing her featherweight belt.

Explaining her decision to take a fight that virtually nobody in the boxing public especially wanted to see, Serrano said: “I am the undisputed featherweight champion today because Heather Hardy agreed to fight me in 2019 for her WBO title. That was the first step in my current run at featherweight. It’s only right that I give her the opportunity to earn it back.”

Hardy, the respected 41-year-old former champion, added: “I’m beyond grateful for this opportunity. In 2021, I came back to boxing with a renewed passion for the sport.

“My late trainer told me, the day before he died, that 2023 would be my year. Now, I have the opportunity to prove him right and become an undisputed champion.

“Thank you to Amanda and team for keeping their word on giving me the rematch, but come fight night, I only have winning on my mind.”

Nakisa Bidarian, who along with Jake Paul co-manages Serrano, confirmed that the powerful southpaw’s next point of business would be to chase Taylor for a rematch in what would make for a second home fight for the unbeaten Irish star.

“Amanda is one of the most decorated and elite athletes ever and is on path to become the winningest female boxer of all time,” said Bidarian.

“After some much needed recovery time, Amanda is excited to return to the ring and remind fans why she is the most devasting puncher in women’s boxing. If Amanda prevails in the fight, the plan is to immediately pursue the rematch with Katie Taylor in Ireland.”