Former Heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr. had to shake off an early knockdown, but righted himself to win a 12-round unanimous decision over Chris Arreola in front of a restricted sellout of 3,940 fans at The Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
In round two, it was Arreola who landed a chopping right that sent former champ, Ruiz down to a knee. That was the high-point for Arreola as Ruiz was able to get in a rhythm and land hard three-punch combinations throughout that were mostly of the Jab/:eft-hook/Right Hand variety, Arreola seemed like he would be dangerous, but that was thwarted as in round eight, Arreola seemed to hurt his left shoulder after absorbing a right from Ruiz Ruiz was methodical down the stretch and boxed his way to a 118-110, 118-110 and 117-109 victory.
Ruiz landed 161 of 626 punches; Arreola was 109 of 521.
Ruiz, 256 lbs of Imperial, CA is 34-2. Arreola, 228.6 lbs of Los Angeles is 38-7-1.
ANDY RUIZ JR. “Chris is a veteran and a hard puncher. We did what we had to do tonight. We got the victory that we wanted. I was at my lowest point and now I have to climb the ladder again. I’m thankful for the victory and I’m ready to move on to the next.
“He got me with a good clean right hand in the second round. I was too overconfident and dropped my hand a bit. Hats off to him. We just kept pushing and pushing. I switched up and started focusing on counterpunching and working the body.
“I felt a little rust and I know other fighters can relate to that. If he wants to run it back, we’ll run it back with him.”
“I just have to get back to work. I learned a lot about throwing different combinations in training, but the rust showed in the ring. Arreola was very good tonight.
“When you go down, you just have to climb back up. That’s exactly what I did. I got dropped, but I got up and got the victory.
“I could have done a lot more. I couldn’t really find my distance, but some of that was Arreola doing a good job. I could have kept my hands up better, but I just need to get back in the gym and stay busy.
“I got a little overconfident in the early rounds. The most important thing was that we came back and got the victory.
“I’m going to stick around this weight, but I’m going to tighten everything up. I faced a strong veteran who knew exactly what he was doing.
“A fight against Luis Ortiz would be an exciting matchup. I have to get back to training so I can keep feeling better in the ring. I’m actually happy to get the 12 rounds in.”
CHRIS ARREOLA“I respect the judges, but I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. He might have won, but don’t tell me I only won two or three rounds.
“I got hit in the shoulder and it kinda threw it off. It wasn’t a big deal though. It’s a part of boxing. I didn’t take too much punishment. I’m ready to run it back with Andy.”
“A lot of punches he threw were hitting my gloves. He never put me in danger. It’s dejecting to not get the respect from the judges that I feel I deserve.
“There’s no moral victory. I came here to beat Andy. He might have beat me, but I felt like he won seven rounds at the most.
“I give me and Joe a lot of credit. We trained hard for this fight. I did everything I had to do in the gym.
“I was a better fighter than Andy Ruiz expected. This version of Ruiz would knock Joshua out, but I was in great condition and ready for everything he had to offer.
“I absolutely hurt him, but Andy is a dangerous fighter. I didn’t want to get hit with a suckerpunch like Anthony Joshua.
Ramos stops Figueroa After 6
Abel Ramos dominated and beat up Omar Figueroa Jr as the fight was stopped after round six of their scheduled 12-round welterweight bout.
Ramos landed a plethora of hard shots on an awkward style of Figueroa, who would be holding his glove up on the side of face, Ramos started breaking down Figueroa in round five, as Figueroa was developing a mouse under his right eye. In round six, Ramos dominated Figueroa by landing hard thudding shots to the head of body. Figueroa was spitting up blood and the fight was stopped in the corner.
Ramos, 146.6 lbs of Casa Grande, AZ is 27-4-2 with 21 knockouts. Figueroa, 146.4 lbs of Weslaco, TX is 28-2-1.
ABEL RAMOS“Omar is a very tricky fighter. He has an awkward defense and it was hard to catch him clean at first, but the fight overall went as planned.
“I trained so hard for this fight. I knew my career was on the line. I knew I needed a win and I knew Omar would bring a good fight. I’m glad to be back on the winning side and I’m ready to take on the best of the division.
“We trained to attack the body. Our plan from the beginning was to pressure him. We wanted to score points to the body. I could hear him groaning and I knew once I hurt him bad, that the fight was over.
“I missed the feeling of the crowd cheering. My adrenaline was through the roof. They give you excitement and we missed that in boxing.”
Fundora Stops Cota in 4!
6’7″ Sebastian Fundora continues to be one of boxing’s most exciting and unique performer as he stopped Jorge Cota in round four of their scheduled 12-round junior middleweight fight.
The two stood toe-to-toe for the whole fight as they were winging and whaling shots on one another. In round two, Cota was cut on his nose. Fundora continued to lay a beating on a game Cota, who kept trying to fight back and land an ois fhccasional overhand shot. In round four, Fundora hurt Cota with chopping lefts and body shots. Cota was staggered but he was getting caught and the fight was stopped at 2:35.
Fundora, 152.8 lbs of Coachella, CA is 17-0-1 with 12 knockouts. Cota, 153.4 lbs of Los Mochis, MEX is now 30-5.
SEBASTIAN FUNDORA“I’m extremely grateful to fight in front of the fans tonight. It was fun to hear the cheers, the boos and everything. I’m honored to be in this position.
“It was a good trading fight. We were hitting each other, but my punches were doing more damage and that’s why the referee stepped in. I think he could have been stopped earlier in the round. I just kept fighting until the end.
“I saw his leg wobble in the first round, but he took it and kept coming. The second time I saw it, I knew I had to go for the kill.
“My message to the rest of the division is that we’re here. If youre ready for war, we’re ready to take it. Bring it on.”
Ramos decisions Molina
Jesus Ramos remained undefeated with a 10-round unanimous decision over Javier Molina in a welterweight bout.
Ramos was cut over his right eye in round six. In round seven, Molina was deducted a point for hitting behind the head.
Ramos landed 135 of 579 punches; Molina was 77 of 413.
Ramos, 150 lbs of Casa Grande, AZ won by scores of 99-90 twice and 97-92 and is now 16-0. Molina, 149.2 lbs of Norwalk, CA is 22-4.
JESUS RAMOS“It was my second time going the distance and that’s what we wanted. We love knockouts, but we’re glad at this point in my career that I got the experience. I thank Molina for taking the fight, he’s a great fighter.
“I might have been looking for a knockout too much in the early rounds. I got used to it and I settled down and I felt like I was breaking him down little by little. He was trying to survive a little bit, so it made it harder to get the knockout.
“I learned a lot today. I’m going to keep building on that. I feel like I have a lot of momentum. It was a big step up for me and I feel like I showed a lot. I showed I have good conditioning and good movement along with my power.
“My father told me to invite him to come to me. We were pressuring him to start. My dad had me change it up. He came in a little bit, but then he backed off. That’s how I tried to counteract his movement.”
Lara Knocks Out LaManna in 1; Wins Middleweight Title
Erislandy Lara won the WBA Middleweight title with a devastating 1st round knockout of Thomas LaManna.
Lara landed a huge left to the head that put LaManna on his back and the fight was stopped at 1:30.
Lara, 159.4 lbs of Guantanamo, CUB is 28-3-3 with 16 knockouts. LaManna, 159 lbs of Millville, NJ is 30-5-1.
ERISLANDY LARA – KO1 at 1:20
“He said at the press conference that he was going to knock me out, but he ran right into that punch. Maybe he was overthinking it all along.
“I felt strong and sharp tonight at middleweight, but I still want all of the big fights at 154-pounds too. I want the winner of the Jermell Charlo-Brian Carlos Castano unification fight. (WBC Middleweight Champion) Jermall Charlo is like family, we worked in the same gym for years, but this is a sport and I’d welcome the challenge.
“I feel great physically. I’m going to keep doing this until my body tells me I can’t do it anymore. I don’t feel like I’ve taken a lot of punishment in my career and I know I have at least another three years of my prime left.”
Ramirez Stops Avelar in 3; retains Interim Featherweight title
Eduardo Ramirez retained the WBA Interim Featherweight title with a third round stoppage over Isaac Avelar.
In round three, Ramirez dropped Avelar with a perfect right hook. Ramirez finished the fight woth another huge hook that rocked Avelar and the fight was called off at 1:16.
Ramirez, 125.4 lbs of Los Mochis, MEX is 25-2-3 with 12 knockouts. Avelar, 125 lbs of Mexico is 17-3.
“I am beyond happy right now. I’m just elated and moved by having been able to fulfill the promise I made to my baby boy Eduardo Ramirez Jr. He just turned two years old and I wasn’t able to be there to give him a hug for his birthday, but I had promised him that I would bring the title back home to him as a gift, and that is exactly what I’m doing now.
“You have to have a stone-cold mindset, and that’s what we had to finish Avelar off. We were able to connect the right combinations to finish the fight off exactly how we wanted.
“This was a perfect coronation. To be honest, I would now like to have the chance to fight against Leo Santa Cruz. I previously fought against Miguel Flores, who barely lasted 4-5 rounds against me, but Leo couldn’t knock him out. This convincing knockout should be my ticket to have that opportunity”.
Adrian Granados and Jose Sanchez battled to a eight-round draw in a welt welterweight contest.
Granados took a card 77-75, while two cards were even at 76-76.
Granados, 146.6 lbs of Mexico City is 21-8-3. Sanchez, 146.2 lbs of Albuquerque, NM is 11-1-1.
Carlos Negron won a eight-round unanimous decision over Scott Alexander in a heavyweight bout.
Negron, 238. lbs of Villaba, PR won by scores of 79-73, 78-74 and 77-75 and is now 23-3. Alexander, 235 lbs of Los Angeles, CA is 16-4-2.
Anthony Garnica remained undefeated with a four-round unanimous decision over Jesse Bassie i a featherweight fight.
In round one, Garnica dropped Bazzi with a right hand.
Garnica, 125.2 lbs of San Francisco, CA won by scores of 40-35 on all cards and is now 6-0. Bassie, 126.4 lbs of Deerborn, MI is 1-2.
Fernando Molina won a six-round unanimous decision over Prisco Marquez in a lightweight bout.
Molina landed 116 of 358 punches; Marquez was 44 of 264.
Molina, 133.6 lbs of Guadalajara, MEX won by 60-53 scores on all cards and is now 6-0. Marquez, 135 lbs of Liberal, KS is 4-3-1.