LAS VEGAS –It’s beginning to look as if everybody at junior-middleweight is looking up at Sebastian Fundora.
Fundora continued to establish himself as more than just the tallest fighter in the division. He’s also its biggest player, a two-belt champion with a clear path to a chance at winning two more.
“I’d love to be the undisputed champion,” said Fundora (22-1-1 14 KOs), who further secured his place at the top of the 154-pound weight class with a dominant fourth-round stoppage of Choredale Booker (23-2, 13 KOs) Saturday night in a Prime Vision bout at Mandalay Bay’s Michelob Ultra Arena. “Whoever they have for me next, I’ll be ready. I want the IBF champion Bakhram Murtazaliev, plus Xander Zayas is the WBO mandatory. I also want Errol Spence Jr. We have two belts, we have to defend them, and if anyone is willing to unify, let’s do that too.”
Fundora, a 14-1 favorite, left Booker with very little chance at springing an upset. Booker appeared to be confused by Fundora’s unusual height. He’s 6-foot-6.
“He’s so big,” Booker said, ” that it really doesn’t matter where he’s at in the ring. With every step, he’s covering a lot of ground.”
Booker simply could not escape Fundora’s NBA-like dimensions. He was always there, ready to block any of Booker’s shots. Meanwhile, there was Fundora’s reach, long and dangerous.
The most immediate threat to Fundora’s two belts — the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Organization — appears to be Zayas.. The Purto Rican emerged as a leading contender Friday after Terence Cawford relinquished his interim title, which represents a so-called mandatory challenge. It was no coincidence that Zayas was at ringside Saturday. There’s already talk about a Fundora-Zayas bout — Mexican American versus Purrto Rican — in New York.
“I”d love it in New York,” Zayas said. “But I’d go to the moon to fight him.”
Jesus Ramos scores TKO, possibly puts himself in line for Fundora
Jesus Ramos moved forward and ever closer to shot at a major junior-middleweight title Saturday with poise and patience in a stoppage of Mexican Guido Emmanuel Schramm Saturday.
In the end, it was a powerful statement.delivered by a 24-year fighter from Casa Grande, Ariz.
The message: Ramos (23-1, 19 KOs) will let neither defeat nor injury stand in his way.
In his third straight victory since a lone loss to Erickson Lubin, Ramos overcame a hand injury, stopping Sscramm with an overpowering succession of punches at 1:38 of the seventh at Mandalay Bay’s Michelob Ultra Arena.”I had some obstacles.,” said Ramos, who might have put himself in line for a shot at the 154-pound titles retained by Sebastian Fundora in a fourth-round stoppage of Choredale Booker Saturday night in title bout after his victory.”I hurt my hand in the third round, but I battled through it. I made a promise, so I had to get him out of there.
“Overall, I felt good. I did what I wanted. I wanted to get him out of there a little earlier, but he’s a warrior. Everything was working, almost too good. That’s where I hurt my hand and I backed off a bit. It was hurting a lot so I kind of boxed a little bit.
“I was joking with my dad that my previous opponent had stopped Schramm so how could he stop him and I don’t? I’m ready for anybody at 154.”
Schramm (16-4-2, 9 KOs), of LOs Angeles, simply didn;t have the strength to keep Ramos off of him. He complained about the stoppage. But if it hadn’t come in the fourth, it would have happened later. It was inevitable.
“I thought the referee stopped the fight prematurely. I was withstanding Ramos’ shots and countering just fine. I wasn’t exposed or defenseless, I just closed up big in order to counter.
“Ramos was dominating, but it was anybody’s fight since I was also hurting him with my shots. I have to let my hands go more and not allow this to happen again. Bring anybody on. I’ll be back and eager to face the best once again.”
“It was hard to get the finish. He has a lot of heart and he displayed it tonight. I tip my hat to him, he’s a great warrior. Hopefully now I can get the winner of the main event next.”
Elijah Garcia win controversial split-decision over Gausha
Elijah Garcia escaped what would have been a devastating loss Saturday, scoring a controversial split decision over Terrell Gausha
In a desperate fight to avoid a second straight loss, Garcia, a 21-year-old Phoenix middleweight, had to get up from a first-round knockdown. Suddenly, it looked as if Gausha might knock the promise out of Garcia’s future. A crisp right hand sent Garcia, head over heels, onto the canvas. Garcia got up and smiled almost in resignation. He knew perhaps, that the next nine rounds could forever fracture his aspirations.
In the end, he survived, perhaps with consistent aggression and solid body shots. In his won-loss record, it goes down as a victory. But controversy lingers. By definition, a split decision is an argument.
Judges Don Trella and Zachary Young scored it for Garcia. It was 99-94 on Trella’s card. Young scored it, 96-93.
On Chris Magliore’s card, it was 95-94 for Gausha.
The judges’ cards appeared to reflect the unofficial scoring along press row and among the fans at Mandalay Bay’s Michelob Ultra Arena. It was split. Some booed. Some cheered. Some scratched their heads in confusion.
“People can think what they want,” said Garcia (17-1, 13 KOs), who had veteran trainer Bob Santos in his corner for the first time. “I went in the ring and fought my ass off against an Olympian. He’s only lost to world champions, and I went in there and beat him. He’s very experienced, very crafty. He was able to do some things that he wanted, but I figured it out as time went on. Whoever thinks I lost, whatever. I won.
“I figured after he dropped me that was the hardest I was going to get hit. I prepared for it 1000%. I don’t control the judges. My job is in the ring. It was a little closer than I thought. For the most part, I controlled the fight. It was a good experience. I am ready for the next one. I never turn down the fight. I’ll fight anybody.”
Like the judges and the crowd, Gausha had a different opinion about what happened. He thought he won
“I just thought I did what I had to do.,” said Gausha (24-5-1, 12 KOs), a 37-year old fighter and 2012 Olympian who has fought and lost for a world title twice. “The decision is unfortunate, but all I can do is try to regroup and get better.”
After the first-round knockdown, Gausha appeared to steal several rounds with a lury of clean shots in the waning seconds of subsequent rounds. He repeatedly caught Gracia with uppercuts. But Garcia’s sustained aggressiveness impressed Trella and Young often enough for him to bank a narrow win, a pivotal one that keeps his career on track.
Freddie Rojas wins unanimous decision
It was awkward. Sometimes ugly. But it was also predictable.
Las Vegas welterweight Freddie Rojas did what he had to, scoring a unanimous decision over Maurice Lee Saturday in the final fight before the Prime Video portion of the card featuring Fundora-Booker at Mandalay Bay’s Michelob Ultra Arena.
Mostly, Rojas had to stay unbeaten. Mission accomplished with a scorecard victory that pushed his record to 15-0, 13 victories by stoppage. Lee, of Woodland Hills CA, fell to 16-2-2, six victories by stoppage
Alberto Mora wins unanimous decision
Alberto Mora’s skill set included the kind of precision and patience that count on the scorecards.
Sure enough, it was on the cards that Mora (13-0, 10 KOS) , a junior-lightweight from Mexico City, won a one-sided decision –80-72, 77-75 and 80-72 — over ViktorSlavinski (15-4–1, 7 KOs), a Los Angeles fighter who always seemed to be one step and several points behind in the sixth bout of the Fundora-Booker card Saturday
Robert Guerrero Jr. wins quick stoppage
He’s the son of a legend. He has a name that creates impossible expectations. Robert Guerrero Jr., son of a former featherweight and junior-lightweight champion, began to show he might be able to live up to some of them Saturday.
Guerrero (6-0, 3 KOs) wasted little time, scoring a second-round stoppage and staying unbeaten in a lightweight blowout of Sam Armas (6-2, 3 KOs, of Pomona CA, on the Fundora-Booker card. Guerrero controlled the ring and the pace with an authority that was a sure sign of some merging maturity.
A Junior no more.
POW, Brayan Gonzalez wins TKO
Brayan Gonzalez wore pink into the ring. Across his trunk’s waistband, it said:
POW.
It was more than a message. The POW was real, delivered at the end of a lethal left hand in a Gonzalez fourth-round stoppage of Justin Marquez on the Fundora–Booker card Saturday at Mandalay Bay’s Michelob Ultra Arena.
Gonzalez (3-0, 2 KOs), a junior-lightweight from Phoenix, found his range and target early and often against Marquez (5-2, 4 KOs), a Stockton fighter who struggled to mount any kind of counter
De La Certa wins bantamweight blowout
Alexis De La Cerda had power in his hands. Speed in his feet.
Combine the two and the potent mix was just too much for Sharone Carter, who found himself down and done in a third-round bantamweight blowout in the third bout on the Fundora-Booker card Saturday.
De La Certa (6-0, 4 KOs), of Federal Way WA, dropped Carter (14-9-1, 3 KOs), of Saint Louis, early in the third and then again in finishing flurry in the final second of the round
Ezequiel Duran gets up to stay unbeaten
is said to be a prospect.
But he had to prove it. He had to get up.
Duran (5-0, 2 KOs) did, displaying a prospect’s chops in a sixth-round stoppage of Canadian Joseph Brown (4-1, 3 KOs) in the second bout on a card featuring Fundora-Booker Saturday. Brown, a rugged junior-middleweight from Vancouver, dropped Duran with a hard shot midway through the fifth.
Duran, of Amarillo TX, quickly rose to the occasion with an aggressive response. He moved forward, throwing punches at a whirlwind rate that forced Brown into a sudden retreat. Duran’s relentless pressure continued in the sixth with a succession of punches that left Brown defenseless and done at 1:54 of the round.
First Bell: Body-shot KO opens the show
The seats were empty. Only an echo filled the building.
Jursly Vargas produced it, delivering a thundering body shot for a fourth-round knockout of Uhlices Avelino-Reyes in the opener Saturday to a card featuring junior-middleweight Sebastian Fundora’s first title defense against Chordale Booker. Mandalay Bay’s Michelob Ultra Arena
Vargas (5-0, 4 KOs), a stocky lightweight from Rotterdam, worked inside Aerlino-Reyes’ long, lanky reach. In the third, Vargas’ body blows began to hurt Avellino-Reyes (3-2, 2 KOs), of Omaha. In the fourth, the matinee was over when Vargas landed a nasty uppercut that dropped Avelino-Reye to his knees in the final second of the round.
