Reina Tellez: From Serrano Challenge to Big Stage in Birmingham
Reina Tellez doesn’t tiptoe into opportunities. She runs at them.
In January, the 23-year-old from Vero Beach, Florida agreed to face seven-division world champion Amanda Serrano on just 15 days’ notice. No tune-up, no gentle climb. Straight into the deep end against one of the defining fighters of her era.
She lost on points. But she left with something far more valuable than a perfect record.
Serrano, a future Hall of Famer, called her a “warrior”. Promoters took note. Fans remembered the name. And this weekend in Birmingham, Tellez walks out on to another big stage, meeting Jessica Barry on the undercard of Mikaela Mayer vs Chantelle Cameron at MVPW-06 as the promotion celebrates its fifth anniversary.
The short-notice gamble has become the launchpad.
“I believe in myself and I have a lot of heart. This is something I've always wanted to do, ever since I was a child,” Tellez told Sky Sports, the words carrying more weight when you consider what she signed up for in January.
Serrano is not a fighter you casually “go the distance” with. She is a seven-division champion, a relentless southpaw who has built a 50-win professional career and helped drag women’s boxing into the mainstream. Tellez shared 10 rounds with her, held her own, and walked away with more than just respect.
“I had a great outcome, even though it wasn't a win. I got a lot of things from that fight. Like I said, I'm grateful.”
Her record stands at 13-1-1 (5 KOs). On paper, that Serrano defeat is a blemish. In reality, it’s the line that now defines the trajectory of her career.
Tellez had been due to fight Juliana Vanesa Basualdo on the Stephanie Han vs Holly Holm 2 card in May, only for that bout to fall through. Lesser fighters might have stalled. She has accelerated.
“The Serrano fight got me on a platform like I am today. For that, I'm extremely grateful,” she said. “I feel like without that fight, I wouldn't be able to see the things that I need in my life and in my career to keep being successful and keep being Reina. It taught me a lot as a boxer and as a person.”
That’s the thread that runs through her story: risk, lesson, evolution.
She insists she is no longer the same fighter who stood opposite Serrano earlier this year. The tape, she believes, will prove it.
“I'm not the same fighter that I was when I fought Amanda Serrano, and even my fights before that, I feel like I've really evolved.
“So to see how much better I've got over the past couple of months and the changes that I've made that I can showcase in the ring, it means a lot to me. This fight means so much to me, my family and my team. So I'm grateful for it.”
While Tellez prepares in Birmingham, Serrano continues to stack up history. The Puerto Rican star recently claimed the 50th win of her professional career, edging Lucrecia Manzur by majority decision to retain her WBA and WBO featherweight titles. The fight streamed live on TikTok and pulled 3.4 million views across the night, a figure that underlines just how far the women’s game has come — and the size of the stage Tellez has already sampled.
“You look at everything she (Serrano) has done, she's done a lot for the sport,” Tellez said. “She's a world champion for a reason. So you have to always give respect to her too.”
Respect, but not intimidation. Not anymore.
Her path into the sport was hardly scripted. Growing up in Vero Beach, she watched boxing on television and saw her uncle train at the local gym. Curiosity turned into conviction. She told her family she wanted to box.
They hesitated.
“I told them I wanted to box, and at first they didn't want to because I'm the only girl in the family,” she said. “And then they took their chance on it, they took me to the gym and since then I've just been boxing.”
That decision has now taken her across state lines and into the heart of one of American boxing’s hotbeds. Tellez trains out of San Antonio, Texas, a place steeped in fight history and home to a fiercely proud boxing culture. This weekend, she is one of two fighters — alongside Miranda Reyes — flying the flag for the state on the Birmingham card.
“Texas is big, boxing is huge in Texas, that's one of the main reasons I actually moved to Texas,” she explained. “It's just crazy to see people that I've known since even as a kid be here. And I'm happy for everybody who comes from where I come from to be able to get the opportunity. So best of luck to Miranda and to me.”
Is a Texas takeover coming?
“For sure.”
The words land with the certainty of someone who has already stepped in with one of the best in the world and refused to fold. Now comes the next test: Jessica Barry, a big-event platform, and the chance to show exactly how much that night with Serrano has sharpened her.
The bold move once put her on the world stage. The question now is whether it has built a fighter ready to stay there.
