Davis vs Cruz highlights and results: Sebastian Fundora, Carlos Adames, Eduardo Ramirez win on undercard

Sebastian Fundora UD-12 Sergio Garcia

A strangely dull fight, in that they threw plenty of punches and landed some eye-catching shots, but neither man was ever hurt, it seemed, and there just wasn’t a lot of drama, and not a lot of real back-and-forth.

Scores were 115-113, 117-111, and 118-110 from the judges. Bad Left Hook had it 115-113 for Fundora (18-0-1, 12 KO), who didn’t put in the sort of statement win that people wanted, but it should be respected that Garcia (33-1, 14 KO) is also a good fighter and made it awkward with his pressure, which frankly Fundora probably didn’t expect.

The fight’s entertainment value also wasn’t helped by the crowd at Staples Center filling and not remotely caring about the bout in the ring, just absolutely no interest. It’s somehow worse when you watch a full crowd not care than if there just isn’t anyone there.

At any rate, the 6’5” “Towering Inferno” said he’s “ready for whatever” the PBC team offer him next, but it won’t be a world title fight unless he wants to wait quite a while, as all the belts are tied up with Jermell Charlo and Brian Castano, set to rematch in February.

Carlos Adames MD-10 Sergiy Derevyanchenko

Scores were 95-95, 96-94, and 97-93, so a majority decision for Adames, who really breaks through in his move to middleweight after falling short at world title level at 154. Bad Left Hook had it 95-95, but I thought it would have been really hard to give it to Sergiy, the best I could see was a draw.

This definitely looked like a shopworn Derevyanchenko (13-4, 10 KO), but not totally done or anything, just didn’t quite have the reflexes he used to, was just an unfortunate — for him — bit worse than we’ve seen him before. It was easier to give him the win against Gennadiy Golovkin than it would have been to give him the win tonight with Carlos Adames.

Adames (21-1, 16 KO) had some spells where he looked really good here, but also did noticeably tire as the fight wore on. He may have convinced judges in a couple of the later rounds by stealing rounds late by doing some flashy work, rounds that I gave to Derevyanchenko but were iffy because of that, and Steve Farhood on Showtime gave a couple of those to Adames, too.

“This was a great fight with a great fighter. This gives me an opportunity to move on,” Adames said via interpreter, and added that he’s willing to fight at 154 or 160, wherever he can get the best fight. This was a WBC eliminator, for what it’s worth.

Derevyanchenko said the difference between what he expected and what he got was that Adames stayed southpaw more than he expected, but also said he’ll take a rest and come back. He’s 36 now, but he didn’t look washed in this fight, he’s just a veteran fighter who, in all reality, is past his very best days. He still has something to offer, though.

Eduardo Ramirez UD-10 Miguel Marriaga

All three judges had it 99-90 for Ramirez, as did Bad Left Hook. Pretty easy fight to score; Marriaga’s aggression took the first round, but not by a lot, and everything after that saw Ramirez fairly clearly taking the round.

Ramirez (26-2-3, 12 KO) isn’t known for his power, really, though he’d stopped his last three opponents, and was also moving up from 126 to 130 for this fight, which was billed as a WBC eliminator despite only being a 10-round fight, because sanctioning bodies just do whatever they want, really.

If Ramirez were a bigger puncher at 130, he might have ended this early. He ate the shots from Marriaga (30-5, 26 KO) nicely, and Marriaga definitely threw some heat at him. Ramirez just landed better, sharper punches, a lot more punches, and was able to get the tempo he wanted against the 35-year-old Colombian veteran.

There was a third round knockdown ruled, but a questionable call by referee Marcos Rosales, as replays showed Marriaga probably did slip as much as anything. But of the two, Marriaga definitely showed he was hurt more often. He never went down again, but he was wobbled a few times.

In theory, this win sets Ramirez, 28, up for a shot at Oscar Valdez’s title, but we’ll see what happens with that, and Valdez also just did a mandatory with Robson Conceicao, so he won’t have one due for a bit, particularly if the WBC don’t want to make him.