SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA – Middleweight prospect Islam Abdusamadov got off the canvas to score a six-round unanimous decision over veteran gatekeeper Moris Rodriguez to remain unbeaten in the main event of a six-bout card at the DoubleTree Hotel by Hilton, Sacramento on Saturday night.
Abdusamadov (8-0, 3 KOs) of Santa Clara, California by way of Makhachkala, Dagestan, Russia, a natural middleweight, appeared to hold the edge in power over Rodriguez (9-19-3, 5 KOs) of Sacramento, who, despite dabbling in the super middleweight division, began his career at 135-pounds. Though Abdusamadov landed the harder shots, he was outworked at times in the opening round by Rodriguez. After Rodriguez found success boxing and moving for most of the first, Abusamadov sent the Sacramento resident stumbling into the ropes with a left to close the round. Rodriguez waved his glove to signal he was not affected as the bell sounded, ending the first.
The footwork of Rodriguez, 162, appeared to be what bothered Abdusamadov, 161.2, most as the fight progressed. With Abdusamadov attempting to cut off the ring and get in punching range in the third, Rodriguez was clever with his footwork and caught the Dagestan native off balance and scored a flash knockdown.
Abusamadov had a solid bounce back round in the fourth, as he was much more successful getting in range in keeping up the pressure on his 36-year-old opponent. By the fifth, Rodriguez had slowed on his movement and fought much of the round off the ropes. The inside fighting benefited Abdusamadov, though Rodriguez was never in any danger. Rodriguez got back on his horse in the sixth, before a solid two-way exchange closed out the fight.
In the end, the knockdown did not hurt Abdusamadov in the scoring. Judge Melissa McMorrow scored the bout 58-55, while judges Michael Margado and Joel Farbstein both had it 57-56, all for Abdusamadov.
Making his hometown debut, Sergio Gonzalez (5-0, 4 KOs) of Sacramento punished veteran Christian Seals (4-4-2, 2 KOs) of Carson, California for the better part of three rounds before forcing a third-round stoppage in the semi-main event.
Gonzalez, 155.2, was in control of the action from the early moments of the bout. Fighting for just the second time since forcing a draw with Sacramento favorite Ruben Torres in the same DoubleTree ring in August of 2023, the 34-year-old Seals, 155, struggled to keep pace with Gonzalez, ten years his junior.
Late in the third round, Gonzalez caught an increasingly weary Seals with two straight right hands, followed by two thudding rights to the body that forced the hand of referee Michael Margado. The time of the stoppage was 2:16 of round three.
Unbeaten featherweight Jose Contreras (3-0) of Oakland, California scored a four-round shutout decision over veteran Jonathan Almacen (7-16-3, 2 KOs) of Muntinlupa City, Metro Manila, Philippines.
The naturally larger Contreras, 129.2, may have had an easier night had he made a concentrated effort to target the body of Almacen, 127.2, who began his career as a junior flyweight. Instead, Contreras fought mostly as a headhunter and never took away Almacen’s movement.
Almacen never looked uncomfortable, often showboating when out of punching range, and picking his moments to trade. Contreras struggled to cut off the ring, only managing to pin Almacen along the ropes in brief moments. When Almacen would force Contreras to miss, he was more prone to showboating, rather than capitalizing on the opportunity. As the fighter forcing the action, Contreras won over judges Melissa McMorrow, Joel Farbstein and David Hartman in every round, taking the bout 40-36 across all three cards.
In the fight of the night, Jorge Luna Ramirez (1-0) of Carson City, Nevada scored a hard-fought unanimous decision over Aaron Wisdom (0-1) of Atwater, California.
Both fighters wasted no time, as the action was heated from the opening bell. The fight was rough and fought on even terms on the inside, but Luna Ramirez, 126.3, may have held an edge landing at range on the way in close. Luna Ramirez had his best round in the second, landing clean with his right when finding a moment of daylight to get some extension on his punch.
Wisdom, 127.1, bounced back in the third to have his best round. The Atwater native landed with a clean two-punch combination in the early moments of the round and utilized different angles to roll with some of Luna Ramirez’s punches and create openings for his own. Some rough grappling on the inside created a cut over Luna Ramirez’s left eye, which was incorrectly ruled as the result of a punch by the referee. Spurred on by his own blood perhaps, Luna Ramirez found a second wind late in the round, but Wisdom matched him as the two traded to close the round.
Both fighters had their moments in the fourth, with Luna Ramirez maybe having a little more steam in the final moments of a fight that had the crowd engaged from the opening bell. All three judges; Melissa McMorrow, Joel Farbstein and Edward Collantes, scored the bout 39-37 for Luna Ramirez.
In a closely-contested bout, Shavon Furrow (2-0, 1 KO) of Fresno, California maintained her unbeaten record with a four-round unanimous decision over a determined Vicky Zhao (2-3) of Watsonville, California by way of Chongqing, China.
What the naturally smaller Zhao, 114, lacked in power she attempted to make up for in output and determination. Zhao had a strong first round, outworking Furrow, 114, in stretches and forcing the action.
Furrow’s edge in power began to show in some exchanges in the second round. Despite still being outworked, the way Furrow could back up Zhao with a clean punch likely swayed the judges. Two-way action continued throughout the final two rounds, as both fighters were willing to stand and trade in the center of the ring.
In the end, all three judges favored the power-punching of Furrow over the workrate of Zhao. Judge Melissa McMorrow scored the bout 39-37, while judges Joel Farbstein and David Hartman scored the bout 40-36, all for Furrow.
In the opening bout of the evening, Maurice Powell (2-0, 2 KOs) of Sacramento thrilled his supporters in his hometown debut with a first-round kayo of Milton Ramirez (1-3) also of Sacramento.
Powell, 142.1, was able to work behind his strong left jab and touch Ramirez, 145, with his right from the early going. The southpaw Ramirez struggled to maintain pace and looked to land in between Powell’s punches. In the final minute of the round, Powell forced Ramirez along the ropes and landed two chopping right hands to the top of the head that appeared to bother his opponent. With Ramirez attempting to counter off the ropes, Powell loaded up with a sweeping left hand that crumpled the southpaw to the mat. Referee David Hartman reached the count of seven before deciding to wave off that bout at 2:30 of the first round.
Upper Cut Promotions, promoter of Saturday’s event, returns to the DoubleTree Hotel by Hilton, Sacramento on Saturday, June 27th for “Showdown in Sactown III.”
Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortegajr.mario@gmail.com
