Serrano-Meinke title fight canceled at last minute

Saturday's bout between unified women's featherweight champion Amanda Serrano and Nina Meinke is off.

The Puerto Rican Boxing Commission deemed Serrano medically unfit to compete after she suffered an eye injury Friday. Serrano and Meinke entered the ring to announce the news at Saturday's event in San Juan, Puerto Rico, just minutes after the co-main event between Jake Paul and Ryan Bourland ended.

Serrano was scheduled to defend the WBA, IBF, and WBO featherweight titles in a 12-round bout against Meinke. It would've been the Puerto Rico native's first fight on home soil since 2021 and since becoming the undisputed featherweight champ.

"I wanted to fight. I wanted to fight in front of my people," an emotional Serrano said on the broadcast.

Serrano added that she "can barely see out of" the injured eye.

According to DAZN broadcaster Ariel Helwani, Most Valuable Promotions co-founder Nakisa Bidarian said Serrano got her hair done Thursday night. Then, on Friday, Serrano went for a run and a chemical in her hair dripped into her eye. It bothered her Friday and all day Saturday, and the commission refused to clear her once she arrived at the arena.

Most Valuable Promotions said in a statement that it'll pay Meinke her entire purse.

Refunds will be offered to fans who attended the event.

Serrano was looking to improve her winning streak to five after earning a victory over Danila Ramos last October. Meinke, the IBF mandatory challenger, was set to fight for her first unified world title.