By Miguel Maravilla at ringside
Unbeaten super middleweight Darius “DFG” Fulghum (10-0, 9 KOs) went the distance for the first time against crafty Alantez “SlyAza” Fox (28-6-1, 13 KOs), taking a ten round majority decision. Scores were 100-90, 98-92, 95-95.
Fox came out aggressive at the opening bell as Fulghum was relaxed in clinching and working on the inside, a clash of heads caused a cut to Fox. In round two, Fulghum controlled the pace as he kept Fox away and began working him, connecting him with a solid uppercut. The much taller Fox kept using his weight on Fulghum in the third, but the undefeated fighter kept his composure and stuck to the plan boxing. The fans didnt appreciate things as the whistles and boos began in the fourth, Fulgum boxed as Fox attempted to clinch and stay close. The fans began the wave in the fifth as that caught more action, Fulghum kept sticking to his plan and the fight that the awkward Fox was offering.
Halfway through in round six, Fulghum continued to box but Fox did not offer much of a fight by leaning and clinching. Fox appeared to be tired and fading away in the seventh as Fulghum began to chop down the bigger fighter. Fulghum sensed that Fox was fading in the eighth as Fulghum fought poised, Fox was on his backfoot retreating. With only two rounds to go, Fox was in survival mode in the ninth as Fulghum kept at it and working the bigger guy. It was all Fulghum heading into the tenth and final round, the work being put in as the veteran Fox served perfectly for Fulghum.
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IBF women’s flyweight champion Gabriela “Sweet Poison” Fundora (13-0, 6 KOs) of Coachella Valley, California stopped Christina Cruz (6-1, 0 KOs) of Fort Lauderdale, Florida in ten. Fundora used her height and distance from the start, measuring with the jab in the opening round. Pressing and stalking, Fundora kept Cruz away in the second as she was on her back foot. Fighting confidently in the third, Fundora boxed and kept pressing Cruz. It was obviously evident in the fourth that Fundora’s height was beginning to be the problem for Cruz.
The second half of the fight began with Cruz basically retreating and a vicious body shot to close the sixth round slowed down Cruz as Fundora attacked\. In the seventh, the tall rangy southpaw Fundora kept applying the jab and following up with the left, staggering Cruz as Fundora continued to dominate. Late in the fight Fundora began sliding away with the fight and seperating herself from Cruz. The tenth and final round saw Fundora finish off Cruz with a barrage of punches as Cruz turned away, forcing the referee to stop the fight at 59 seconds of the final round.
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Opening up the DAZN broadcast, Mexico City’s undefeated super bantamweight David Picasso Romero (27-0-1, 15 KOs) fought in the U.S for the first time as he dominated veteran Erik Ruiz (17-10-1, 7 KOs) of Oxnard, California. Picasso worked patiently to start as he worked the jab boxing smoothly. In the third round, the Mexican fighter appeared to be dissecting Ruiz as Picasso began to let his hands go and continued at a patient pace. Heading into the fourth, it was all Picasso as he had Ruiz backing and connecting with combinations. Switching it up in the fifth, Picasso used different stance mixing it from southpaw to Orthodox as he clearly demonstrated his superior skill but the veteran Ruiz kept at it.
Picasso clearly began to seperate himself from Ruiz past the halfway point in the sixth as he continued to work and tee off of Ruiz. It was a work of Picasso, as the undefeated fighter was solid working his way to a unanimous decision to win his U.S debut but the veteran Ruiz prooved to be tough in going the distance and giving the young fighter work. All three judges scored the bout 99-91, 98-92, and 98-92.
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Lightweight Daniel “Junebug” Garcia (8-0, 6 KOs) of Denver, Colorado scored a quick first round knockout over Phoenix, Arizona’s Daniel Lugo (4-2, 1 KOs). A huge overhand right by Garcia sat Lugo down. He got up, but the referee immediately waved off the bout at 1:51 of the first.
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Gregory Morales (16-1, 9 KOs) of San Antonio, Texas and Ronal Ron (14-5, 11 KOs) of Chino Hills, California went the distance in an eight-round super featherweight fight. Judges scored the bout 80-72, 79-73, and 78-74 in favor of Morales.
It was a slow paced ‘figure it out’ round to start as Morales and Ron sized one another and popped the jab early on. Morales connected with a chopping right to start the third and boxed, later in the round Ron backed up Morales to the ropes with his attack but Morales retreated. In the fourth, Morales continued to connect with the chopping right hand as he backed up Ron. A low blow by Morales to begin the fifth momentarily stopped the action as the referee issued a warning as Morales kept peppering the aggressive Ron. Exchaning in the center in the sixth, the fans showed their appreciation once again as Morales tagged Ron but the California fighter kept coming. Late in the fight, Morales and Ron continued to excahnge, in the eighth and final as neither held back pressing to the final bell as everyone was on their feet.
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Mexican Olympian featherweight Gael “El Terror” Cabrera (4-0, 2 KOs) won a four round unanimous decision over Miguel Ceballos (2-1, 2 KOs) of Peoria, Arizona. Cabrera scored a knockdown early in the opening round to get started. Later in the first, a huge uppercut by Cabrera rocked Ceballos as the referee stepped in for a standing 8 count to finish the round. In the second, Cabrera continued his attack on Ceballos, landing with clean shots but the local fighter continued to fight. Ceballos had some momentum in the third as Cabrera was limited with his punches, Ceballos appeared to had turn the tide outworking Cabrera but the Mexican Olympian finished the round strong. It was Ceballos that pressed in the fourth and final round, Cabrera was limited and appeared to be fighting conservatively as the two fighters engaged in a strong finish drawing the fans reaction and appreciation. The judges scored the bout 40-34, 39-35, and 39-35 as Cabrera wins decisively.
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In the opening bout from the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona, bantamweight Johnny “Sugarcane” Cañas (3-0, 3 KOs) of Santa Ana, California immediately disposed of Oakland, California’s William Davis (2–2-1, 1 KO). Canas wasted no time, a body shot followed by a hard left hook did it as the referee waved it off at 1:04.
David fought for the last 6 rounds with a rib injury and Erik took heavy punishment on the 1st four rounds.
For f$%k sake. When can we expect just half-decent commentators? I’m not asking for a miracle here.
Gabe Rosado insulted boxing and showed he was not fit to be an analyst on DAZN when he confused Derevyanchenko and Lomachenko. Ridiculous that standards are so low!
Bad stoppage on Cruz. She was not out on her feet.
Fundora was connecting solidly and cutting the rounds.
Idk how people are calling this a bad stoppage. Maybe it’s just that women can’t fight. Sorry. She turned her back and just walked over to the ropes. The commentary is atrocious. So the referee is supposed to stop the action to tell her to turn around? What is this kindergarten boxing? This was for a “world championship. “ What a joke.
Agree. Idiotic stoppage.
Cruz got her head pushed down to find herself in that position. As happens 99 times out of 100, a good referee just says ‘Stop’ and gives a quick warning… but this ref saw the chance to get the Golden Boy fighter a stoppage and he jumped at it.
Wading through these boring preliminaries will be worth it if Ryder wins tonight!
The only thing worth mentioning in the Darius Fulghum vs. Alantez fight is the scorecards,
95×2, 100 vs 90, 98 vs 92, one of these referees was not paying attention or needs to change career.
Darius “DFG” Fulghum is ok nothing special, he needs quite a bit more development before stepping into the Lions den!
Fulghum had too many moments where he just stood there and did nothing. He had so many opportunities to land to the body or to the arms, but instead allowed Fox to fall in and hold. He was too measured in his approach and just let so many opportunities to do damage slip by. He’s got a long way to go before he’s ready for any of the fringe contenders.
As for Fundora and Cruz, Cruz turned her back and let Fundora pound on her. Her mistake was staggering to the ropes with her back turned giving the ref the signal that she had had enough. If she had stayed in place, it is likely the ref would have stopped the action and told her to turn around. I thought it was a legitimate stoppage. When you turn your back to the opponent and walk away, it’s over.