Laura Serrano Garcia (born October 20, 1967 in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

) is a Mexican boxer. Serrano began boxing at the

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...

, where she was studying to become a lawyer. She wanted to lose weight and stay in shape. She applied for a professional boxer's license in Mexico. After a short appearance in two episodes of the '' Volver a empezar'' soap opera, she went to

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, and on a

pay per view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...

card she challenged Christy Martin for the world title. It was her first fight as a professional and resulted in a

draw Draw, drawing, draws, or drawn may refer to: Common uses * Draw (terrain), a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them * Drawing (manufacturing), a process where metal, glass, or plastic or anything ...

. Serrano's next fight was against world champion

Deirdre Gogarty Deirdre Gogarty (born 10 November 1969) is a retired Irish female boxer and current coach of the Ragin' Cajun Boxing Club who hails from Drogheda, Ireland. She attended Drogheda Grammar School. Due to legal issues regarding women's boxing in I ...

. She won by a knockout in seven rounds, in what was the first all

women's boxing Although women have participated in boxing for almost as long as the sport has existed, female fights have been effectively outlawed for most of boxing's history until recently, with athletic commissioners refusing to sanction or issue licenses ...

undercard held at the Aladdin Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Serrano was supposed to box on the

Julio César Chávez Julio César Chávez González (; born July 12, 1962), also known as Julio César Chávez Sr., is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 2005. A multiple-time world champion in three weight divisions, Chávez was liste ...

- Miguel Ángel González

Pay Per View Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...

event's undercard in

. However, a ban from 1947 was found, forbidding women from boxing events in Mexico City. 🖉 Thanks in part to Serrano's subsequent legal battle, the ordinance was dropped. Serrano suffered a foot injury for which she underwent surgery, but in 1999 she came back and won a decision in her comeback bout. She then, on 2 September 1999, etails from her BoxRec pagemet and defeated the world champion

Tracy Byrd Tracy Lynn Byrd (born December 17, 1966) is an American country music artist. Signed to Universal Music Group Nashville, MCA Nashville Records in 1992, Byrd broke through on the country music scene that year with his 1993 single "Holdin' Heaven" ...

to become Mexico's first woman world boxing champion. She defended her title against Cinthya Prouder (won in a unanimous decision after round 6),

Alicia Ashley Alicia Ashley (born August 23, 1967) is a women's boxing participant who is the former WBC female world super bantamweight champion. Ashley is a Jamaican-American. Born in Jamaica, she moved to the United States at a young age. She is the younge ...

(won in a unanimous decision after round 8),

Gina Greenwald Gina or GINA or ''variation'' may refer to: Gina Gina may refer to: * Gina (given name), multiple individuals * Gina (Canaan), a town in ancient Canaan * Arihant (Jainism), also called gina, a term for a human who has conquered his or her inner p ...

(knockout in round 1) and Kelsey Jeffries (knockout in round 3), followed. The Jeffries fight resulted in Jeffries' first defeat. On August 12, 2008, Serrano challenged

Melissa Del Valle Melissa Del Valle (born June 2, 1969, in New York) is an American multiple champion in women's boxing. A member of a sports-minded family of Puerto Rican decent. Del Valle took up boxing in the early 1990s, while her older brother Lou Del Vall ...

for the Junior Lightweight title. Once again, this world title attempt resulted in a draw ( tie). Serrano has won her last two world title defenses, both decisions, one in ten rounds in Las Vegas and another one, a six-round win in

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

Personal

As of 2005, she was engaged to be married. Serrano is also a lawyer. During 2015, she was inducted as the first Mexican female boxer in the International Women's Boxing Hall of Fame.

Professional boxing record

Personal

Professional boxing record

References

External links

Further reading