Amanda Serrano retains belts in historic 12-round title bout - ESPN

ORLANDO, Fla. — Amanda Serrano joked after Friday night's bout that, after all of that, she still had enough energy to hold up her belts.

Serrano defeated Danila Ramos by unanimous decision, earning three 120-108 scores to retain the IBF, WBO and WBA titles. It was the first unified women's championship fight contested at 12 three-minute rounds.

It was a night Serrano had hoped would be a potential change for women's boxing.

«I hope this is just the beginning, the start,» Serrano said in the ring after the fight. «I know I have other women following me in my footsteps.»

At the end, Serrano and Ramos hugged near the center of the ring. There were no knockdowns, no dynamic finishes — just a strong 12-round fight for the WBA, WBO and IBF featherweight titles.

It was in the championship rounds, where Serrano and Ramos had not been before, where the fight had its most electrifying moments — including chants of «Amanda! Amanda! Amanda!» reverberating throughout the sellout crowd at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, where Puerto Rican flags sat on every seat and were waved liberally throughout the night.

Serrano shined in those rounds. Her best punch of the night might have been a straight right in the 10th, which landed flush on Ramos' head. Serrano came close to getting a stoppage in that round, bringing the crowd to its feet for one of the few times all night.

It had been a vintage half-round from Serrano, what she had so often shown in the two-minute-round fights she'd been in for more than a decade. It continued throughout the 11th round as well, with Serrano punching Ramos around the ring.

Not surprisingly with the increase in rounds and minutes per round, both Serrano and Ramos started the fight feeling each other out more