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Amanda Serrano and Jake Paul have formed a bond as boxer and promoter. The two will now compete on the same card on Saturday, with Serrano defending her WBO, IBF and WBA featherweight titles against Nina Meinke in the main event from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Paul will be in the chief support bout facing Ryan Bourland in cruiserweight action.
Serrano vs. Meinke will be a 12-round fight with three-minute rounds as Serrano looks to continue her quest to compete under the same rules that apply to male boxers. Her pursuit led to vacating the WBC title, and thus status as undisputed champion, when the WBC continued to refuse to sanction women’s fights featuring either three-minute rounds or 12 total rounds.
Serrano has only suffered a single defeat since April 2014. She dropped a split decision to undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor in one of the biggest — and best — fights in women’s boxing history in 2022. Since that defeat, Serrano has ripped off four straight victories, all back at featherweight.
In Meinke, Serrano faces a legitimate challenger on a six-fight winning streak. Meinke has fought for a world title once before, losing to Sarah Mahfoud for the IBF featherweight belt in 2022. Mahfoud’s next fight was with Serrano in a fight where Serrano finished her mission to unify all four world titles at the weight.
Serrano is riding high after being placed in the main event in her home country, having had Paul defer the main event slot to her.
“He’s such a gentleman that he said, ‘This is your island,’ so he’s given me the opportunity and I’m super excited to be here, to have an amazing opponent, to come out and showcase women’s boxing once again,” Serrano said at a press conference for the event. “I’m used to performing, going out and sitting and watching Jake perform. Now it’s the opposite. I don’t mind being co-main event, [but] he said there’s no way in the world that he was going to be the main event. This is my island. So I’m truly thankful for this opportunity.”
Paul’s fight with Bourland is very similar to his previous outing. With the well of former MMA stars having run dry, Paul has turned his focus to fighting “real boxers.” Like a typical boxing prospect still early in his career, those boxers are of the club fighter level.
Paul faced Andre August in his last appearance in December, who entered the fight with a 10-1-1 record. August entered the Paul fight having only fought once since 2019. Paul scored a knockout in the first round.
Similar to August, Bourland has a solid on-paper record of 17-2 and has fought once since 2018. Both August and Bourland entered their respective fights with Paul with a win over Santario Martin (who sports a 4-7 record) in their two most recent fights.
The undercard features plenty of fighters from or with roots in Puerto Rico. Look no further than the other title fight as Puerto Rico native Jonathan Gonzalez looks to defend his WBO junior flyweight title against Rene Santiago. The 32-year-old has won five in a row since moving down to 108 pounds and claiming the vacant WBO title. He takes on another native Puerto Rican in Santiago who has won three straight since moving up to junior flyweight.
Let’s take a look at the rest of the fight card before getting to a prediction and expert pick on the top two fights of the night.
Serrano vs. Meinke fight card, odds
| Amanda Serrano (c) -2500 | Nina Meinke +1000 | Unified featherweight title |
| Jake Paul -2500 | Ryan Bourland +1100 | Cruiserweight |
| Javon Walton | Joshua Torres | Featherweight |
| Jonathan Gonzalez (c) | Rene Santiago | WBO light flyweight title |
| Pedro Marquez Medina | Brandon Valdes | Featherweight |
Viewing information
- Date: March 2
- Location: Coliseo de Puerto Rico — San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Start time: 7 p.m. ET
- How to watch: DAZN (with subscription)
Predictions
Meinke is not a bad fighter and is a deserving title challenger. Serrano is simply the better fighter, however, and she has been in much harder fights with much better opponents. The length of the rounds and fight overall must also be considered. Serrano has gone the full 12 rounds at three minutes each, Meinke has not and that could be a major factor heading into the fight. Serrano has solid power but has gone seven fights without a stoppage. It’s likely that this fight goes the distance and that Serrano is the woman with her hand raised at the end. Pick: Amanda Serrano via UD
Paul isn’t only in the chief support bout because he wanted to give that honor to Serrano, but also because fights with the Augusts and Bourlands of the world aren’t going to pull in viewers in the way fights with former UFC stars will. It’s hard to fault Paul for trying to keep building up his boxing skills by facing men who have trained in boxing — to one degree or another — for years. But there’s not much drama here other than if Paul can get the stoppage over a rusty club fighter and how quickly he can do so. Pick: Jake Paul via KO2
Who wins Jake Paul vs. Ryan Bourland and Amanda Serrano vs. Nina Meinke, and which prop is a must-back? Visit SportsLine now to see Brandon Wise’s best bets for Saturday, all from the CBS combat sports specialist who has crushed his boxing picks the last four years, and find out.
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