Stephanie Han escaped with a controversial majority decision victory over Holly Holm in their rematch to retain her WBA lightweight title, and Amanda Serrano tied Christy Martin’s all-time women’s knockout record with her stoppage of Cheyenne Hanson at MVPW-03 on Saturday night in El Paso, Texas.
Considering those results, let’s look at what could be next for Serrano, Han and Holm.
Serrano (49-4-1, 32 KOs) told ESPN ahead of her fight with Hanson that 2026 would likely be the final year of her professional boxing career. But before retiring, she was focused on breaking Martin’s knockout record of 32 and winning 50 fights. The WBO and WBA featherweight champion has been targeted by unified junior lightweight champion Alycia Baumgardner, but Serrano said that she’s not necessarily interested in a fight with her fellow Most Valuable Promotions stablemate.
“I’ve done the big fights already,” Serrano told ESPN. “I’m happy fighting my mandatories.”
It’s pretty clear that Serrano is content defending her titles and is focused on leaving the sport with 50 wins and the KO record. She has more than earned that opportunity after 17 years in the sport — winning titles in seven divisions — and being responsible for bringing women’s boxing to the forefront with the Katie Taylor trilogy.
Serrano told ESPN that she wants her final fight to be in Puerto Rico, where she lives, while she’d also settle for a fight in New York. Chances are that her next fight will be against another opponent who isn’t a household name. The WBO’s No. 1 contender is little-known Lucrecia Manzur (14-4, 7 KOs) while the WBA’s highest-ranked opponent is undefeated and unproven Shannel Butler (7-0, 3 KOs). Whoever is next for Serrano, rest assured that it won’t be a fellow pound-for-pound fighter.
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Stephanie Han rocks Holly Holm in Round 2 on way to win
Meanwhile, Han needed every ounce of her hometown support to leave the ring as the WBA lightweight champion. Holm made all the proper adjustments following a technical decision loss in their first fight in January, outlanding Han 107-70 in total punches and having a strong enough second half to usurp Han as champion. Instead, the judges valued Han’s fast start and awarded her a majority decision with scorecards of 96-94, 96-94 and 95-95.
“I want [unified junior welterweight champion] Katie Taylor next,” Han said after the victory. “I know everyone wants her, but she beat my sister Jennifer Han years ago, and I want to get revenge for her. I came back to boxing to help my sister prepare for Katie Taylor, and it would be an honor to be her last fight. I would go to Ireland for that.”
Unfortunately for Han, Taylor is in a similar situation as Serrano. She can fight whomever she wants but doesn’t appear to be pressed to face a fellow titleholder. Han doesn’t carry the name recognition to secure a fight with Taylor and could find herself in a difficult unification showdown with WBC and WBO champion Caroline Dubois instead.
Dubois, who’s also promoted by MVP, made the trip to El Paso to call for a fight with Han, and although she was politely refuted at the postfight news conference, there’s a strong chance the fight ends up happening next. Dubois has been chasing down Baumgardner, who doesn’t appear to be interested in the fight.
As for Holm, her situation is a tricky one. At 44, she doesn’t have many years left in her combat sports career. But her performance Saturday proved that she’s far from done. Holm made all the right adjustments but simply couldn’t convince the judges that she had done enough to earn the victory. Still, the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion and three-division boxing champion carries significant name value and is a worthy opponent. Holm is now 1-2 in her return to boxing after spending 12 years in MMA, but that won’t be a blemish on whomever she opts to fight next. She told ESPN that she was interested in a showdown with Taylor or competing for MVP MMA next, and both of those options are on the table.
Taylor vs. Holm could be a good matchup for Taylor’s final pro boxing match, and it would make sense given Holm’s history and how she looked against Han. But if Holm wanted to put on the 4-ounce gloves again, her options in MMA would be plentiful. If Ronda Rousey unretired and continued her MMA career after defeating Gina Carano on May 16, a rematch with Holm, who defeated Rousey in the UFC in 2015, would be massive. Holm could also square off with Carano, who might be interested in something that lasts longer than her 17-second submission loss to Rousey. Both Holm and Carano are strikers, and a showdown between the two makes a lot of sense.
Somehow, even in defeat, Holm has more options for her future. And while she’s certainly disappointed with the outcome against Han, she will almost certainly find herself in another prime spot for her next fight, whether it be boxing or MMA.
