Mikhail Varshavski aka Doctor Mike, family medicine physician plus internet celebrity and Amanda Serrano, the four division women’s boxing world champion and the reigning unified featherweight world champion, are the two best known in their fields. Interestingly, the two recently crossed paths in the squared circle as Doctor Mike engaged in a sparring session with Serrano, along with having a few words about Serrano’s upcoming fight with undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor as well as women’s boxing in general.
In a recent video titled “I Got In The Ring With The Greatest Female Boxer Alive” uploaded on Doctor Mike’s official YouTube channel which has over 9 million subscribers, the Russian-born American doctor was seen donning the gloves against Serrano, whom Doctor Mike multiple times addressed as a “superhuman”, as well as giving a brief backstory of the Puerto Rican boxing champion’s rise to glory.
Serrano speaks to Doctor Mike on how she wanted her upcoming fight with Katie Taylor to be a full 12, 3 minute round fight
Aside from getting a taste of sparring against the Guinness World Record holder boxer Serrano, Doctor Mike touched upon the controversial topic of the duration of rounds in women’s boxing (10, 2-minute rounds while men’s boxing has 12, 3-minute rounds) and the logic that the sanctioning bodies use in favor which the Doctor addressed as “making zero sense from a medical perspective”. Serrano herself had earlier spoken in favor of making her upcoming title fight against Katie Taylor, which will take place on 30th April at the Madison Square Garden, as a full 12 round fight with three-minute rounds.
“When women are fighting you hear the commentators, you can always hear the spectators or people talking, ‘oh, it’s only two minutes’, and I figured it would just bring the fight (against Taylor) at a bigger magnitude. So I was like ‘let’s do it,'” Serrano recalled the press conference where she asked Taylor who, however, had turned down the idea, “she was quick to respond and say no.”
Serrano believes in sacrificing everything else to dedicate herself to the sport and doesn’t dwell on the negatives
Up next, Doctor Mike discussed the backstory of Serrano, and how she has been living a ‘monk’ lifestyle since getting into boxing- dedicating her entire existence to the sport, adding that the 33-year-old stays away from alcohol, smoking, parties, relationships, and even cell phones, anything that could distract her from the sport.
“My whole model in life is- greatness requires sacrifice. I started boxing at 18, I decided this is what I want to do. I want to make a career out of it. So I’m going to sacrifice everything. In my mind I’m like ‘I want to be great. I want to make history.'”
Doctor Mike addressed Serrano as a ‘superhuman’ and asked her how she controls her mental health and deals with the days when she is questioning herself and her strategy to overcome those thoughts.
“Yeah I definitely try not to sit and dwell on them because then they’ll just drive you off the walls. There’s times where I’ll speak to my sister, I’ll sit down and speak to her. Or Jordan, my manager, trainer, brother-in-law. They’ll look back and point and videos or point at things that I wasn’t able to do but I did it. Like didn’t think I was able to do it, but I done it. And then that will always overpower the negativity,” Serrano stated, “So I just look in the mirror before a fight and I say to myself, ‘You a bad ass…b word”.
Serrano believes she has two more years to give to boxing and plans to retire at 35
Up next, Doctor Mike stepped inside the ring against Serrano, which he depicted as a “surreal experience” while saying that her punches were “stinging” and she had “crisp movements” and a “penetrating gaze”.
“I literally called myself imagining what Katie Taylor would feel like come April 30th,” the doctor added.
Serrano also touched upon the thoughts of retirement and the 33-year-old stated that she has given herself a time limit, with two more years to go.
“I gave myself a time limit. I said by 35. I’m 33 now”, she went on, “once I retire I can say it was all worth it. Because look what I’ve done, look at what I have now, making my biggest payday so I’m definitely going to invest it properly and once I’m retired I can just kick my feet up and be like ‘it was all worth it.'”
Check out the full video below-
