For some time now, especially since women’s boxing became as big as it has become, there have been some people asking why the female title fights are not scheduled for 12 rounds the way male title fights are, and why there are just two-minute rounds in female fights, not three-minute rounds.
Claressa Shields for one has been calling for 12 round female fights with three-minute rounds for some time.
As has Amanda Serrano. Well, in an historic move, Serrano will get what she wants in Orlando on October 27th. Serrano’s WBA/IBF/WBO featherweight title defence against Danila Ramos will be scheduled for 12 rounds, with three-minute rounds. Serrano is both excited about this and proud of it. As is Ramos, who is currently 12-2(1).
“This fight is about more than some belts,” Serrano, 45-2-1(30) said in an official statement. “We have faced a long and hard battle, united as women, to achieve the same pay, respect, and recognition in boxing. Together, on Friday, October 27, we will make history and prove to the world once again how incredible women’s boxing is and that we are just as tough, dynamic, and capable as any man in the ring, if not more so. This is a fight for women everywhere to be treated the same as their male counterparts.”
Serrano, who wanted her super fight with Katie Taylor to be fought over 12 three-minute rounds but failed in her attempts, will now become the first woman boxer to fight a scheduled 12 rounds over three-minute sessions since 2007, this when Layla McCarter’s fights with Donna Biggers and Melissa Hernandez were both scheduled for 12 rounds with three-minute rounds (McCarter ended up scoring KO’s in both fights).
Not everyone will be happy with the 12 rounds and the three-minute rounds. Some, such as female boxing trailblazer Christy Martin, feel strongly that two-minute rounds equal fast action and a red-hot pace set. It’s very often true that women’s fights seem to just fly by, so fast a pace do the ladies set over those two-minute sessions, fought over ten rounds. And then there is the safety issue. Some people feel 12 rounds and three-minute rounds are not in the best interests of women boxer’s safety.
But warriors like Serrano, Ramos, Shields, and others want to be treated as equals to the male fighters, and, on October 27, women’s boxing will take a big step. Whether or not all women’s world title fights will follow suit will of course remain to be seen.