Serrano vs. Ordonez New Main Event for Combate Americas on Friday

Credit: Combate Americas

A staph infection for John Castaneda moves co-headliners Amanda Serrano and Erendira Ordonez to the main event for this Friday’s Combate Americas card.

A staph infection has pulled John Castaneda out of his main event slot against Erik “Goyito” Perez for this Friday’s event in Tucson, Arizona for Combate Americas.  The bout between boxing champion Amanda Serrano and Erendira Ordonez will now take top billing.

Just days before they were set to collide, the infection pulled Castaneda from the event against the highly touted Perez.  While the fight was expected to be a bantamweight title eliminator, Perez has already moved on and called out newly minted champion José Alday at an upcoming event in Monterrey.

Amanda Serrano recently announced that she was stepping away from boxing to fully commit to MMA for the foreseeable future, stating that the financial situation in boxing was simply not worth it compared to the lucrative opportunities in MMA.  In September, Serrano became the first woman and the third individual to win a boxing title in six different weight classes.  The only other people to hold that distinction? Boxing legends Manny Pacquiao and Oscar de la Hoya.  But Serrano is quick to point out while those two and other men have made a substantial living from boxing, she must still live modestly and offer private training sessions just to make ends meet.  While she is walking away from fights such as those Cecelia Braekhus which would be for a title in a seventh weight class, Serrano instead will focus on continuing her MMA career.

Inside the cage, she made her debut in April where she faced short notice replacement Corina Herrera, fighting to a draw.  The bout was notable as Serrano controlled the first two rounds with her striking but was dominated on the ground to the point that all three judges gave it 10-8 for Herrera.  While she took the fight in September to win another boxing title, she has continued to train MMA.  She has also begun competing in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitions to help further develop her ground game.

Erendira “Aketzaly” Ordonez is a former kickboxing champion who had been previously scheduled to face Serrano in April before pulling out with an injury.  Ordonez enters the fight with a 1-2 record after having fought exclusively in Mexico.

The updated fight card will now be:

Flyweight Main Event:
Amanda Serrano vs. Erendira Ordoñez

Bantamweight Co-Main Event:
Anthony Birchak vs. Adam Martinez

Featured Welterweight Bout:
Fernando Gonzalez Trevino vs. David Michaud

Preliminary Bout Card:
Bantamweight: Juan Pablo Gonzalez vs. Mario Bautista
Bantamweight: Arturo Guzman vs. Kasey Tanner
Featherweight:  Andy Perez vs. Paris Stanford
Lightweight: Levi Escobar vs. Joshua Valentin
Catchweight (130 pounds): Joe Madrid vs. Joao Camilo
Featherweight:  Ivan Tena vs. Alim Muhammed