TAMPA – Miriam Gutierrez toiled in relative obscurity outside of Spain for much of her career.

She is now placed in the unique situation of facing two of the very best pound-for-pound fighters in women’s boxing in the span of just three fights.

The former title challenger from Madrid, Spain is game for the challenge as she faces seven-division champion Amanda Serrano (41-1-1, 30KOs), who moves up from featherweight to face Gutierrez in a scheduled ten-round lightweight contest. The bout takes place Saturday evening as the co-feature of a four-fight Showtime Pay-Per-View from AMALIE Arena in Tampa, marking the first U.S. appearance for Gutierrez and second away from home.

The previous road trip came when Gutierrez challenged Ireland’s Katie Taylor (20-0, 6KOs) for the undisputed lightweight championship last November in London. Taylor prevailed by unanimous decision, going on to claim her second straight Female Boxer of the Year award as recognized by the Boxing Writers Association.

Taylor—a 2012 Olympic Gold medalist and two-division champ as a pro—is often mentioned with unbeaten two-time Olympic Gold medalist and unbeaten three-division champion Claressa Shields in the debate for the sport’s very best female boxer. Serrano is directly behind the two on most lists, leaving Gutierrez with a world class resume all in the past 13 months.

“This is what it’s all about. It’s the only reason I’m here, to fight the very best and go after the highest honor,” Gutierrez told BoxingScene.com. “It truly is an honor to fight someone like Amanda, to fight the best and to be the very best.”

Gutierrez bounced back from her only career loss with a six-round decision victory just six weeks ago in Torrejón de Ardoz, Spain. The 38-year-old lightweight is a perfect 14-0 at home but still in search of an elusive first win on the road. While not differentiating between Taylor and Serrano in terms of talent, Gutierrez likes her chances far more this weekend based on preparation and the expected environment heading into their lightweight clash.  

“It was a different opportunity facing Katie Taylor. It came behind closed doors,” Gutierrez noted of her lightweight title bid fought in an empty Wembley SSE Arena last fall during the pandemic. “Training was different, it was a different experience.

“I’ve trained very hard for Amanda Serrano and I’m going to enjoy this moment. This is an amazing experience. To have that experience against a seven-division world champion like Amanda Serrano is just amazing. I’m here to fight the best.”

Headlining Saturday’s show, content creator-turned-cruiserweight prospect Jake Paul (4-0, 3KOs) and former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley (0-1, as a boxer) in a scheduled eight-round rematch.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox