Does the path to greatness have to trample over the legacies of the past? Not necessarily. To many fans, every journey to the top is different. They need not collide; rather, they can walk hand in hand as well. However, Nakisa Bidarian seems to have a different perspective. He believes the stage where Amanda Serrano stands today is beyond what some of the legendary boxers from her native island have achieved.

‘The Real Deal’ will finally fight her fiftieth bout against Stevie Morgan on Saturday, July 20. The test follows the breakdown of the Nina Meinke fight in March. Subsequently, the postponement of the Katie Taylor rematch happened. The duo’s light welterweight fight takes place at Tampa, Florida’s Amalie Arena. A bunch of reporters had a chance to speak with the MVP co-founder after the final press conference.

Nakisa Bidarian: Celebrating success while overlooking legends?

Nakisa Bidarian initially spoke about the earlier scheduled Mike Tyson fight. He appreciated the way Jake Paul stuck with the date and went ahead to fight another opponent. Bidarian shared his thoughts on the controversy surrounding the Nate Diaz-Jorge Masvidal boxing match. He also expressed great hope for how the Paul-Perry fight might go business-wise. One of the reporters sought his view on the significance of having a woman’s fight, the one between Amanda Serrano and Stevie Morgan, as a co-main event of such a big show.

They emphasized how, in the past, women’s bouts barely received such prominent positions. So how did the card feature one of the best female boxers of all time alongside a fighter who is incidentally a resident of Tampa? Nakisa Bidarian stated that one of the primary objectives he and Jake Paul had while establishing the MVP was to bring more focus to women’s boxing. In his view, they have been following the route since they founded the promotions.

Then he called out Amanda Serrano as one of the greatest boxers of all time. Given she’s on to her fiftieth fight, he said, “She has done things that men from Puerto Rico the Trinidad’s the Miguel Cotto, haven’t done.” He stressed that the format (co-main) continues even with the Mike Tyson fight. The original card featured the second fight between Serrano and Taylor. It will continue likewise on the rescheduled date as well.

It is needless to say that his statement on Amanda Serrano’s impact on the sport barely needs a debate. Bidarian’s statement about the likes of greats such as Felix Trinidad and Miguel Cotto is bound to raise quite a few eyebrows.

The Legacy of Trinidad and Cotto

Both Cotto and ‘Tito’ Trinidad are part of a venerable Puerto Rican heritage. It includes Wilfred Benitez, Hector Camacho, and Esteban De Jesus, among many others. Especially in Trinidad’s defense, one could say that he joined Oscar De La Hoya, Bernard Hopkins, and Roy Jones Jr. to give boxing that much-needed nudge after the slump it faced during the post-Mike Tyson-Evander Holyfield era. The fights they fought arguably brought the crowd back to arenas.

Likewise, with some of the biggest pay-per-views of the last decade coming from his fights against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Canelo Alvarez and the decade before when he went against Manny Pacquiao, Zab Judah, or Shane Mosley, Miguel Cotto too has a legit claim over a top-notch legacy.

Comparisons are an inevitable part of a competitive sport, but as many fans might feel, there should be a sound rationale on which they are based.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree with Nakisa Bidarian’s views on ‘Tito’ Trinidad and Miguel Cotto?