Serrano vs. Meinke Highlights: Main Event Canceled, Ryan Garcia Calls Out Jake Paul, Euphoria Star Booed Out, and More

It was a night of heightened drama. A packed crowd filled up San Juan, Puerto Rico’s El Coliseo de Puerto Rico, to the brim. They saw Jake Paul dazzle the ring with another superlative performance. However, they returned on a sad note. The much-anticipated match between Amanda Serrano and Nina Meinke suffered an untimely cancellation.

Puerto Rico’s biggest indoor arena played host to the Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) event. DAZN live streamed it across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and the rest of the world. As it happened, only a few fights were televised, with the rest restricted to the audience at the arena. Per the initial reports made available by MVP, the event registered record ticket sales, which surpassed some of the biggest events in the near past.

Undercards: Setting the Tone

Some of the non-televised bouts included the super featherweight bout between Puerto Rican Christopher Diaz and American Headley Scott. The former won the match via technical knockout. There was a welterweight bout between New York-born Elijah Flores and Alejandro Munera from Medellin, Columbia. This time, the American boxer got the better of his Columbian rival, securing a technical win in the fourth round.

The outcomes of matches such as the one between Omar Pacheco and Christophe Ortiz or Pedro Marquez versus Brandon Valdes remain unconfirmed. Moving on to the televised fights, fans and followers saw actor-boxer Javon Walton and Joshua Torres in a featherweight fight.

The four-round match ended in a majority decision draw. Though the crowd didn’t spare the ‘Euphoria’ actor, booing him all the way as he exited. Next, Puerto Rican Krystal Rosado enters the ring opposite Gloria Munguilla from Los Angeles, United States. 21-year-old San Juan, Puerto Rico-born Rosado, won her third professional fight by a unanimous decision.

Next, it was time for a world title defense. A light flyweight decider was played between the two Puerto Ricans. The three judges’ scorecards finally favored the reigning title holder, Jonathan Gonzalez, over René Santiago after the duo slugged it for 12 rounds.

It was time for the co-main event of the night in San Juan.

‘The Problem Child’ tames ‘The Rhino’ 

Jake Paul took roughly the same time to finish up the business with Ryan Bourland. Continuing with his move to fight increasing numbers of professional boxers, Paul took on the out-of-retirement Bourland for the year’s fight bout. It will be the third time ‘The Problem Child’ is going against a professional boxer. Jake Paul, long slammed for picking retired mixed martial artists, fought Tommy Fury, a professional boxer, first in February last year.

Though the adventure ended in a loss, Paul, after a brief-stop fight against Nate Diaz in August, followed up with a fight against André August on December 15. With some twenty seconds left in the first round, Paul’s right uppercut found a neat connection, sending August down to the canvas. Thus, ‘The Problem Child’ finally emerged victorious against a bona fide boxer.

Now it was time to consolidate. As soon as the fight began, Jake Paul pressurized Ryan Bourland with jabs and body shots. ‘The Rhino’ tried to find his way out but couldn’t succeed. Finally, a furious onslaught of combinations from ‘The Problem Child’ sealed his fate, sending him down. By that time, the referee had stepped in to call off the fight.

Jake Paul has never hidden his boxing ambitions. Ecstatic, post-fight, he gave a loud shout to Canelo Alvarez. “Canelo, stop ducking. I know you want it. I’m repping Puerto Rico; you’re repping Mexico, so it’s Puerto Rico vs. Mexico. I want Canelo. I want all the biggest names. Like I said, I’m the face of this sport. Truly, who’s doing more for boxing than me? I keep on proving myself time and time again,” said Paul.

‘KingRy’ to Boxing’s Rescue

Interestingly, the story received a last-minute twist with the entry of Ryan Garcia. The young boxing star from California is preparing himself for his upcoming big bout against Devin Haney on April 20. Already under flak from several corners for his recent antics, Garcia seems to have gotten riled by Jake Paul’s victory.

Taking to his X/Twitter account, he slammed ‘The Problem Child’, “Okay, enough, it’s on. I’m going to have to do this! I’m going to end this JAKE PAUL BOXING THING. BRING IT ON Jake. IM DEAD F**KING SERIOUS F*CK YOU! HIT MY TEAM UP.”

“I can’t do this sh*t,” Ryan Garcia added through an audio note. “…feel so f**king bad for introducing Jake Paul to boxing….f**ked up…can’t allow this to happen….He’s disrespecting my sport—disrespecting everything. I just… don’t know… Call my team, Jake. f*ck you!”

Jake Paul didn’t let it slide either. Launching his own riposte during the post-fight press conference, he said, “Ryan, I love you; you know that, bro, but you got to chill out, bro, because there’s a line, and people, you just seem like you’re losing your mind and acting thirsty and desperate, and saying you’re a billionaire when you had one money fight. I’m just saying, just chill, bro.”

Later, putting a point on a fight with Ryan Garcia, Jake Paul said that he would breeze through the young boxer. The latter doesn’t have any footwork. Though ‘KingRy’ might have been in the sport for a longer duration, he remains a better boxer between the two.

A Headline to Remember

For all the excitement it brought, the event will perhaps be remembered by many for the cancellation of the main fixture. The title fight between Amanda Serrano and Nina Meinke is the first fight after the WBC refused to acknowledge her October title defense against Danila Ramos since it was a 12-round bout. Now a unified champion, there was an all-around elation over the match taking place in front of Serrano’s home crowd.

But sadly, none of it was to come. Reportedly, due to an eye injury, the Puerto Rican Boxing Association refused Amanda Serrano’s permission to fight. Most Valuable Promotions’ official statement read, “Amanda Serrano has unfortunately been declared medically unfit by the Puerto Rican Boxing Association to fight tonight due to an eye injury she sustained yesterday.” It was also confirmed that while Meinke will receive her full fight purse, a ticket refund for all those who approach was also provisioned.

The featherweight champion, joined by Jake Paul and the rest of the team, seemed distraught and emotional. Offering apologies, she said, “I am so sorry. I wanted to fight in front of my people.”

The Real Deal’ Will Be Back 

Through her Twitter account, Amanda Serrano offered a bit more detail. “This to all my beautiful Fans, My Island, My fellow fighters who have been sending me well wishes. With a Torn Broken Heart I want to say I’m So Sorry. Everyone who knows me knows I’m a warrior, & I would never agree to cancel a fight. I would have fought without an eye or arm,” Amanda Serrano said. Later, she thanked Nina Meinke as well for being considerate of her condition.

Amanda also thanked her promoter team of Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian. Jake Paul also spoke on her behalf and confirmed that the pending business between Serrano and Meinke will be completed later. He said, “…the doctors wouldn’t let her move forward because of her eye; her cornea was exposed, and she was failing some eye tests….She did everything to make it happen, and this happened super, super last-minute. We did everything in our power to keep the fight happening…And I know she’s a warrior.”

Later, Nina Meinke also shared her thoughts on what happened today. “I’m absolutely got it. I’ve been training for so long. I’ve preparing so hard. I’m in the best form of my life, but I keep training. This fight’s going to happen. I’m sorry about this. I hope Amanda recovers soon, and I’ll be waiting for her,” she said.

Thus came to an end one of the year’s biggest boxing events. All the fans will be wishing a speedy recovery for Amanda Serrano so that she can come back and retain her title like a true champion.

Read More: “I Pray Her Eye Is Ok”: Claressa Shields and Others Concerned About Amanda Serrano After Nina Meinke Fight Cancellation

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Also Read: “It Is Such an Honor”: Jake Paul Gets New ‘Nickname’ Ahead of Ryan Bourland Fight