Amanda Serrano Vacates WBC Title After Ruling Refuses Fights Under Men's Boxing Rules

The WBC did not sanction Amanda Serrano's October victory over Danila Ramos because it was fought under men's boxing rules with 12 three-minute rounds instead of women's rules with 10 two-minute rounds, so she relinquished her WBC title as a result.

"Moving forward if a sanctioning body doesn't want to give me and my fellow fighters the choice to fight the same as the men, then I will not be fighting for that sanctioning body," she wrote on Instagram.

"The WBC has refused to evolve the sport for equality. So I am relinquishing their title."

Reuters (h/t ESPN) noted that Serrano previously unified the WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, IBO and Ring Magazine titles as one of the most dominant boxers in the world. The other governing bodies recognized her fight against Ramos as a title defense, but the WBC did not.

In September, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman took to social media to explain his organization's stance.

"Tennis—women play 3 sets, basketball the basket is shorter and the ball smaller and those are not contact sports," he wrote. "We stand by safety and well-being of the fighters."

It was fitting that her fight against Ramos went the distance given it was the first unified women's championship fight that featured 12 three-minute rounds.

Serrano won via unanimous decision and retained her IBF, WBO and WBA titles.

"What's so funny is that when I was in there, I really couldn't feel the difference," Serrano said, per Michael Rothstein of ESPN. "In the sixth round, I was like, is it really three minutes or did they go back to two minutes?

"I felt good. I was in really good shape. I trained really hard for this fight knowing I had to go out there and prove to everybody, prove people right or prove people wrong, that women can do whatever they put their minds to."

She now has a 46-2-1 record with 30 knockouts throughout her impressive career.

Prior to Serrano's fight against Ramos, a number of women's fighters released a joint statement calling for the option to fight under traditional men's rules with 12 three-minute rounds. Chantelle Cameron, Seniesa Estrada, Natasha Jonas, Holly Holm and Laila Ali were among those who attached their names to the statement.

"As women, we have had to fight inch by inch to earn the same equity and respect freely awarded to men. In our sport, we have made progress, but there is still far to go," the statement said, in part.

"For too long, we have been underpromoted and undercompensated. This has finally started to change as all of us have proven that women's boxing captures the attention of sports fans and creates moments the world will never forget—and we create these moments despite how rarely we are afforded the same time and opportunity to showcase our skill as our male counterparts."