The back-and-forth action continued through the fourth round, but in the fifth, Ochoa found his second wind as he came out of the corner and unloaded a punishing salvo of power shots in a bid to slow the relentless pace of Serrano. But, in the closing minute of the round, Serrano was still there, walking forward and landing clean, crisp shots as the pair went toe-to-toe in a thrilling penultimate round.
It set things up for a potentially crucial final frame, and both fighters emptied the tank in a thrilling finale as they battled all the way to the judges’ scorecards once again.
This time there was a winner, with Serrano getting the nod from all three ringside judges, who returned scores of 59-55, 59-55, 58-56 for “El Diamante”, who moves on to 7-0-2. Ochoa, meanwhile, takes the first loss of his career.
But, given the sheer entertainment the pair delivered in their first two matchups, few would complain if they met in a trilogy bout further down the line.
