The elements are all there for rising welterweight prospect Raymond Serrano to become a boxing star. The former amateur standout has the look, he’s just 20-years-old, comes from a fighting family, fights at the prominent welterweight class and oh yeah, he’s from Philadelphia. Serrano, a gifted boxer-puncher, tests his wares before the world tonight in the ESPN2-televised co-feature from the Grand Sierra Resort & Casino in Reno, Nevada.
Serrano (11-0, 6 KOs) was introduced to the sport of boxing by his father Ramon at an early age. “My dad used to compete as an amateur in Puerto Rico,” explained Serrano. “He got me into it and started training me when I was young, like eight-years-old.” Raymond’s uncle Ben Serrano also boxed professionally, notably defeating eventual titlist Doug DeWitt during a 21-fight career. Additionally, current junior middleweight contender Kermit Cintron is Ben’s nephew by marriage.
Despite the boxing bloodlines, Raymond did not inherit a love for the sport right off the bat. “When I first started boxing, I didn’t really like it,” admits Serrano. “I never wanted to fight.” Perhaps what began to change the young Serrano’s attitude toward the sport was his success. By 2005, the 16-year-old Serrano was making his mark on the national amateur scene. In June and July of that year, Brownsville, Texas played host to both the National and International Junior Olympic Championships, and Serrano won gold in both.
“That was one of the best experiences as an amateur,” said Serrano, recalling his Junior Olympic victories. “I went to a lot of tournaments before that, and made it to the championships and lost. I was determined to win the Junior Olympics, because the year before that I had won the bronze. I wasn’t that happy, so I came back the next year and won gold. It was a happy moment. After that I started traveling with the USA team and I learned a lot from that experience.”
While he went on to gain many accomplishments in the unpaid ranks, including a bronze at the World Cadet Championships in England in 2005 and a Pennsylvania Golden Gloves title in 2006, Serrano began to sour on the amateur game. The change in his outlook was due in part to the much maligned amateur scoring system. “There were a lot of fights that I thought I won, but because of the computer scoring I didn’t,” explains Serrano. “It is hard to fight four rounds and then they say you lost by one point, it is crazy. I went to the Under 19 [Championships], and I fought in the championship and lost, which I thought I won. Then I went to the Eastern Trials and lost by a couple of points. After that, I think I was 17 or 18, I decided to turn pro.”
While his three-point loss to Anthony Walker at the Eastern Trials in May of 2007 marked his final amateur contest, the controversial computerized scoring was not the only reason the young Serrano decided to make the leap to the pros. “I had over 100 fights, and I stopped getting excited when it came time for the amateur fights,” admits Serrano. “I decided I needed some excitement, so it came time to turn pro.”
That October, Serrano made his pro debut inside a hallowed Philadelphia sporting landmark, the Spectrum, making short work of Tierre King. However, it was not until his second pro contest that Serrano came to the realization of what it means to be a professional fighter. “I fought Jorge Delgado, and he had a lot of fights,” recalls Serrano. “It was my first time being in a fight and going the full four-rounds.” Serrano took the four-round unanimous decision. “That was a wake up call that it is not a game. You’ve got to train hard. It is not like the amateurs, because it is important that you don’t get any losses. The guy was tough too, he was a veteran.”
Early in his pro run, Serrano soon assembled the team that supports and prepares him to this day. Prominent promotional outfit Star Boxing, headed by Joe DeGuardia, took an early interest in Serrano and inked the young prospect. “In this business, if you don’t have someone looking out for you, no one will,” says Serrano. “And I have someone looking out for me. We got a good thing going on with Star Boxing, they are good people.”
Besides joining forces with a promoter, Serrano and his father brought in a new trainer, Danny Davis. “I knew Danny since the amateurs,” says Serrano. “We used to have Danny come give me pads in the amateurs. After my second or third fight, we brought Danny into our team. He is great.” Davis, who won a National Golden Glove title in 1991, has worked alongside Nazim Richardson, Freddie Roach and John David Jackson in the camps of Bernard Hopkins.
In addition to his experience working with the most renowned trainers and as a fighter himself, it is Davis’ approach to training that has left an indelible impression on his young pupil. “He goes out there and runs with me, and he pushes me,” says Serrano of his extremely fit trainer. “He doesn’t just tell me what to do, he actually does the workouts with me.”
Any rising young fighter could get caught up in his own hype, but Davis is not afraid bring his charge’s feet back down to sea level. “Somebody has to be grounded, and that’s me. I am the bad guy,” says Davis. “He has the people who tell him he’s great and he is this and that. I am the one that has to keep everything honest, and I do, and he respects me for that.”
In his most recent fight, Serrano moved to 11-0, but not with out some trials and tribulations. Serrano took on journeyman Anthony Bowman on November 21st in Tunica, Mississippi. The time comes in every fighter’s career that he must show he can overcome obstacles and adversity. Serrano was unexpectedly dropped by Bowman in the opening round. Although he was not hurt from the flash knockdown, a two-point round is huge in a six-round bout, and thus Serrano was behind the eight ball. Making matters worse, a headbutt had opened a cut on Serrano before the first round came to a close.
Serrano rose to the challenge, evening the score by knocking Bowman down in the following round, en route to a six-round unanimous decision victory. “My last fight, I didn’t look as good as I normally do,” admits Serrano. “But that is why I went back to the drawing board and trained harder for my fight coming up on ESPN. I also got cut, and that was my first time getting cut.”
Serrano’s trainer believes that the near slip-up against Bowman may be serving Serrano well. “He is back in the gym and I am seeing him really focused, more so than ever, and I have been with him for two years,” said Davis from camp last week. “Sometimes it takes a fight like that. I think that fight did something to him. This is a matter of life and death. I always tell him we have to treat it as such, and that it is a dangerous sport. You don’t know if you are going to come out or not. You have to take it serious.”
Serrano showed he could overcome adversity in his last fight, but his team will not rush their budding 20-year-old prospect. “He is turning into a more complete fighter, but we still have a long ways to go,” said Davis, who would like to give Serrano two or three more years before he tackles the upper echelon of the always tough 147-pound welterweight class. “He just turned 20, so people have to understand he’s still young. He is learning, and he is doing a lot of things better than two years ago when we first started. So I am definitely seeing the progress.
Next up for Serrano is an ESPN2 televised eight-rounder against venerable southpaw Ronnie Warrior Jr., tonight at the Grand Sierra Resort & Casino in Reno, Nevada. Warrior (13-2-1, 4 KOs) of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma is coming off of a two-plus-year layoff and may not have the most imposing record, but Serrano has learned from past mistakes. “I don’t know that much about him,” admits Serrano. “He’s a southpaw and he’s like an inch taller than me. I know not to take anybody lightly though, so I am ready for whatever.”
“This is a great opportunity for Raymond to once again showcase his growing skills on the national stage,” said Serrano’s promoter DeGuardia. “This will be his first scheduled eight rounder, and his first nationally televised co-feature, and he is still only 20-years-old.” DeGuardia has high hopes for him, but understands that it is one step at a time, “Ray has a very exciting crowd-pleasing style, and we expect him to have a very big year in 2010, but first he must get by Warrior on the 29th.”
Raymond Serrano appears ready to meet and possibly exceed everyone’s expectations, adding another chapter to his family’s boxing history. “I want to look good and show people what I got,” said Serrano. “You will be seeing me move up the ladder. My goal is to be champion of the world.”
Photo by Mark Ortega
Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortega15rds@lycos.com.
