Everything went according to plan for Amanda Serrano in her return to her home country.

The Puerto Rican native defeated Reina Tellez by unanimous decision to retain her Ring, WBA and WBO featherweight titles in a 10-round fight with three-minute rounds at Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan. Serrano won 98-92, 97-93 and 97-93.

Serrano was fighting in Puerto Rico for the first time since 2021. It also marked her first fight at 126 pounds since 2023.

“It feels amazing,” Serrano said of her return to featherweight in her post-fight interview. “It feels even better to be back. It's been two years since I fought at this weight, so the next fights are going to be much, much better.”

Tellez (13-1-1, 5 KOs) delivered a valiant effort and had moments of success throughout the fight, particularly landing power shots. Ultimately, Serrano’s advantages in skill and experience allowed her to seize control as the fight progressed.

Serrano (48-4-1, 31 KOs), who boasted a height and reach advantage, found success pushing the pace and keeping Tellez at the end of her punches. Serrano’s attack on Tellez’s body affected the 22-year-old prospect early on and did more damage in the middle rounds. In the fifth round, Serrano had some of her greatest success going to the body as Tellez stayed on the move along the ropes.

Swelling under Serrano’s right eye became much more visible after the fifth round. Tellez had one of her best rounds in the sixth countering Serrano with her check left hook and jabbing with her, which caused the swelling to grow.

Serrano, 37, remained in control throughout the fight, though. She put her foot on the gas in the final round and relentlessly targeted Tellez’s body as she sought to tie Christy Martin’s record of 32 knockouts. Tellez managed to survive, though, showing promise in a seismic step-up competition.

“I’ve never been 10 rounds, let alone three-minute rounds], and I just did that with one of the best in the world,” Tellez said. “[Amanda is] somebody I've idolized my whole life. I stood in there, and I fought to the end.”

Tellez was ineligible to win the title after missing weight by 0.6 pounds. She was a late-replacement opponent on just over two weeks' notice after Erika Cruz was removed from the fight due to an atypical finding in her Voluntary Anti-Doping Association test.

Serrano felt fortunate that Tellez was willing to step in.

“I'm super thankful and grateful to Reina for coming on such short notice and fighting,” Serrano said. “She's a warrior. I told her after the fight, 'Don't worry, she will be fighting for MVP once again.' We're going to give her another couple of opportunities, because she proved tonight she's a warrior. She fought like an undefeated fighter tonight.”

Serrano called for unification bouts in the featherweight division after the win over Tellez. Tiara Brown (20-0, 11 KOs) holds the WBC title, while Nina Meinke (20-3, 4 KOs) is the IBF champion.

“There’s a lot of new champions at featherweight,” Serrano said. “That's a nice thing to see. Maybe one day we can all get together and just fight each other. I am the unified featherweight champion, and there's other champions out there.”