On September 13, 2019, Amanda Serrano and Heather Hardy met at the Hulu Theater in Madison Square Garden in a fight that brought together two of the most recognizable names in women’s boxing. Serrano entered as a seven-division world champion and left with another pair of major featherweight titles after a hard-fought unanimous decision over the previously unbeaten Hardy.
The fight represented an important moment in the continuing rise of women’s boxing at one of the sport’s most historic venues, while also setting the stage for Serrano’s eventual rivalry with Ireland’s Katie Taylor. For Hardy, a tenacious, battle-tested fighter, it was the first professional defeat of her career
As we revisit the fight during This Week in Women’s Boxing History, it is worth looking not only at what happened that night in New York, but also at where the careers of these two fighters went from there.
Amanda Serrano came out aggressively in that fight, overwhelming Heather Hardy with sharp southpaw left hands and right hooks in a torrid opening round that left Hardy bloodied and briefly appeared close to a stoppage. Hardy survived the assault and gradually adjusted, using head movement, angles and counters to make the fight more competitive from the third round onward. Serrano continued to land the cleaner, harder punches, eventually shifting her attack to Hardy’s body when the former champion became more effective at slipping shots. Hardy had her best moments in the middle rounds and exchanged punches with Serrano through the final bell, but Serrano’s accuracy, speed and pressure carried her to a clear unanimous decision after 10 rounds, with scores of 98-91 (2x) and 98-92.
Seven years after that memorable night, and Amanda Serrano has continued to make her mark in boxing history. The Puerto Rican southpaw went on to become undisputed featherweight champion, while continuing to move between divisions in pursuit of the sport’s biggest challenges. Most notably, she met Katie Taylor three times, beginning with their historic 2022 showdown at Madison Square Garden. It was the first women’s boxing match to headline the arena’s main venue. Taylor won their first meeting by split decision, and later won the 2024 rematch and 2025 trilogy bout by decision. Serrano, meanwhile, has continued to add to her extraordinary résumé. In 2026 she won her 50th professional fight and she remains a world champion in the featherweight division. From the seven-division champion who walked into the Garden in 2019 to one of the defining figures of modern women’s boxing, Serrano’s career has continued to live up to the promise of that night.
Heather Hardy’s story since that night has also been a compelling one. The Brooklyn native had already made history before facing Serrano, winning the vacant WBO featherweight championship in 2018 by defeating Shelly Vincent in their second meeting. After losing the title to Serrano in 2019, Hardy returned to the ring and rebuilt, winning two fights before meeting Serrano again in 2023. She went the distance once more in Dallas, but that fight ultimately became the final professional boxing match of her career. Due to persistent vision and other neurological symptoms, Hardy withdrew from a planned bare-knuckle bout in 2024. Hardy helped carry women’s boxing through its leaner years and into the spotlight, becoming a world champion and twice sharing the ring with Serrano as the sport began to find its wider audience.
