Fighters' grades: One A, one F, and a lot in between after a weekend full of boxing

This past weekend was highlighted by two big boxing cards in New York. On Friday, an all-women card that included six title fights with an unprecedented 17 titles on the line took place at Madison Square Garden under the Most Valuable Promotions banner.

In the main event, undisputed junior welterweight champion Katie Taylor defeated Amanda Serrano by majority decision to remain unbeaten in their fight trilogy. It was a brilliant performance by Taylor, who decided to slow down the pace to keep Serrano guessing and out of range.

Also on the card, Alycia Baumgardner retained her undisputed junior lightweight championship, but beat Jennifer Miranda in less impressive fashion. Shadasia Green scored an upset of Savannah Marshall that unified two super middleweight titles. Late replacement Cherneka Johnson took advantage of her opportunity and became undisputed bantamweight champion with a TKO win over Shurretta Metcalf.

On Saturday, at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, The Ring III card saw lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson change his usual defensive approach to a more aggressive attack. He dominated previously unbeaten power puncher William Zepeda. Hamzah Sheeraz, making his super middleweight debut, knocked out Edgar Berlanga in the fifth round to get a step closer to a megafight for the undisputed championship. Subirel Matias went the distance for the first time in his career in a must-needed victory over Alberto Puello to claim the WBC junior welterweight title. Andreas Hale took in every fight on both New York cards and grades the performances of all the top fighters.

Friday report card

Katie Taylor: B

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Taylor: Nobody can deny I won this fight

Katie Taylor believes her third victory over Amanda Serrano was her most dominant victory in the trilogy.

It wasn't the slugfest of the previous two meetings. The pace was slower than their previous two fights and the output level was lower, which brings down the grade here, but Taylor finally fought the fight she wanted against Serrano. Taylor used movement and a check hook and doubled up on the right hand to control long stretches of the fight. Her performance emphatically proved Taylor is the better fighter.

Amanda Serrano: D

Serrano had an awful game plan against Taylor in their third fight. She opted to box instead of swarm and found herself on the losing end of a decision that wasn't as close as the first two fights. Serrano admitted in her postfight interview that she didn't believe her strategy from the first two meetings would get the job done in the third, but her aggressive approach in those performances won over fans and left room for opinions that she should have been up 2-0. Instead, she allowed Taylor to fight her fight and lost a clear decision. Serrano is still one of the greats, but this wasn't the right approach.

Alycia Baumgardner: C

"The Bomb" didn't show off her vaunted power against the light-hitting Miranda and didn't necessarily impress those who had never seen her fight. She gets a slight pass because she had been relatively inactive the past couple of years. Nevertheless, she played it safe despite being in a position to win over new fans with her power. Baumgardner promised in her postfight interview that things will only get better from here, an approach that would remind fans what made her an undisputed champion in the first place. She has all the tools to be a star.

Shadasia Green: B

Green was a significant underdog in her fight with former undisputed super middleweight champion Marshall and dug herself a pretty deep hole by having a point deducted in Round 4 for excessive holding. But the raw talent and grit of Green pulled her through, and she won a split decision to become unified champion. It wasn't a perfect performance but proved that Green is the diamond in the rough that Jake Paul's MVP thought she was. More importantly, she set herself up for a potential blockbuster showdown with ESPN's No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter, Claressa Shields.

Cherneka Johnson: B

Johnson wasn't even originally on the card but got the call to join MVP after Dina Thorslund withdrew when she learned she is pregnant. Johnson took full advantage of the opportunity and tore through Metcalf with a ninth-round stoppage in a bantamweight battle to become Australia's first undisputed champion. She made a strong impression and is now in prime position to become a star.

Saturday report card

Shakur Stevenson: A

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Shakur Stevenson wins by unanimous decision to retain his title

Shakur Stevenson beats William Zepeda to retain his WBC lightweight title.

Stevenson silenced those who called his style boring by staying in the pocket and outslugging a slugger in a dominant unanimous decision win against Zepeda. He didn't need to put on an exciting performance to beat the offensive-minded Zepeda, but he fought like he wanted to prove a point to his doubters. His fight could have easily been in the headlining spot, given that Stevenson is among the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world and was defending his lightweight championship. He landed an absurd 52.2% of his punches (295 of 565), weathered every single storm he encountered from Zepeda and won nearly every round on the scorecards (118-110, 118-110 and 119-109). This performance proves he can win in just about any style he wants.

William Zepeda: C

Zepeda fought the way he always fights, launching a ridiculous 979 punches at his opponent. He gave Stevenson all he could handle with a relentless offensive approach that had been good enough to beat 33 other fighters, but Stevenson was too good to be overwhelmed by Zepeda's output. Zepeda landed just 27.8% of his total punches and was too easy for Stevenson to find, with Stevenson landing over 50%. Zepeda left with a loss, but fans will want to see him again because of his exciting style.

Hamzah Sheeraz: A

Sheeraz had to listen to Berlanga's trash talk for months, about how he was going to make short work of the Brit, who was making his super middleweight debut. Berlanga had the backing of New York City when the two met in the main event at Louis Armstrong Stadium, with Berlanga being accompanied by Fat Joe and Remy Ma performing their hit "Lean Back" for his entrance. Ironically, it would be Sheeraz who forced Berlanga to "lean back" by knocking the Puerto Rican down three times and picking up an impressive fifth-round knockout. He proved that the move to 168 pounds was the right one and now sets himself up for the winner of Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford.

Edgar Berlanga: F

For all the talking that Berlanga did to Sheeraz (and promoter Oscar De La Hoya), he couldn't back it up and was blown out in five rounds. Hubris has seemed to get the best of the Puerto Rican, who burst onto the scene by winning his first 16 fights by first-round knockout. In September he landed a fight against Alvarez that proved to be too early in his career, in a one-sided unanimous decision loss. He came into this fight full of confidence, but he was dropped three times in front of his home fans. Hopefully this humbling moment for Berlanga gets him back in the lab to fix the holes in his game. He's talented but will need to realize his limitations moving forward.

Subriel Matias: B-

Matias won a decision for the first time in his career, a hard-fought battle with Puello to become the WBC junior welterweight champion. Matias, who entered the fight with a 100% knockout-to-win ratio, certainly tried to add another knockout to his record with a full-court press of Puello. He stayed on his front foot for nearly the entire fight, bouncing punches off every part of Puello's body. But he started to wear down late and had to hang on for a narrow majority decision win. If Puello had power, this might have been a different outcome.

Alberto Puello: C+

Puello was forced to deal with the relentless pressure of knockout artist Matias and nearly escaped with his title. He fought well off his back foot, weathering the storm and using crisp counterpunching. He never allowed the fight to get away from him, managing to become the first fighter to go all 12 rounds with Matias. Puello is crafty, but his lack of power ultimately did him in.