Fundora Outworks & Decisions Ocampo

Photos Esther Lin - Showtime

One of boxing's latest wonders was victorious Saturday night as the 6’4, WBC interim super welterweight champion Sebastian Fundora (20-0-1, 13 KO’s) of Indio, California won a unanimous decision over Ensenada, Mexico’s Carlos Ocampo (34-2, 22 KO’s) in headlining Showtime Championship Boxing at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

In typical fashion the much taller Fundora pumped out the jab, but Ocampo threw the chopping right that connected on Fundora. Ocampo connected with a right in the second, but Fundora responded with his right, busting the Mexican’s nose as Ocampo began to bleed. Measuring with the jab in round three, Fundora appeared to be timing as Ocampo charged and attacked to close the round. It was an inside fight in the fourth as Fundora and Ocampo exchanged, neither taking a step back.

Continuing inside in the fifth, Fundora connected with an uppercut, but Ocampo held his ground and fought on, a short right by Fundora to close the round stopped Ocampo’s momentum. Staying in the phone booth in the sixth, neither took a step back but Fundora began to get some snap on his punches in getting some distance. Ocampo continued to stand and trade with Fundora in the seventh, on the inside as that fight appeared to be in his favor. Hammering away inside, Fundora appeared to be softening up Ocampo and started to land thudding shots as Ocampo appeared to be tired on shaky legs.

With the doctor and referee keeping a close eye heading into the ninth, Fundora chopped down Ocampo and was patient working inside. Late in the fight in the tenth, Ocampo and Fundora kept working on the inside as neither stopped nor backed up. During the championship rounds in the eleventh, Fundora boxed from a distance and jabbed as Ocampo’s face was busted and he continued to chase and eat the jab in the process. The final round saw Fundora box and fight conservatively sticking the jab as Ocampo looked for one last hurrah but appeared a defeated fighter.

In the end the judges scored the bout 119-109, 118-110, and 117-111 as Fundora stays undefeated and retains his WBC interim title.

“I wanted to display a little boxing, I thought I would show a little boxing and put that on display but you know I still had to bang for the fans. That’s what they came here for so I had to give it to them. I felt my jab was solid and the difference and had him backing up.

“You know I like to break my opponent down and he was very tough and his face swelled up too. But he banged. He’s a tough Mexican. My hat's off to him. In the middle I wanted to see if I could hurt him. I know Spence caught him with a body shot and I saw in the middle of the fight he was open for the left uppercut to the stomach so I saw that would slow him down.

“I am pleased with this performance because I did what we trained for. I trained for boxing and I trained to stay at a distance and I think we did that in the fight. Of course, I want to face the winner of Charlo and Tszyu. I’m the WBC mandatory. I’ve earned my spot and we’ll see what happens. But I hope I’m next. Fingers crossed.

“This is a dream come true to fight on the same card as my sister. The past three fights I’ve got a little watery-eyed when I’ve come out for my fights. I’m like, ‘Wow, these fans are here for me?’ I want to thank all the fans who supported me and my sister. It means so much. It was a very hard camp but we pushed through. Hopefully we’ll see you guys again in the spring.

Adames Stops Montiel in 3

Carlos Adames (22-1, 17KO) captured the vacant Interim WBC Middleweight title with an emphatic third round knockout victory over former world title challenger, Juan Macias Montiel (23-6-2, 23KO).

The fight got off to a very slow start with the Los Angeles fight fans quick to boo the lack of action in the feeling out first round. Both fighters were content to mostly paw with their jab as they measured each other up.

In the second round, Adames southpaw style seemed to be giving Montiel some problems and Adames landed hard counter crosses from different angles. Adames also landed some good body shots and left Montiel with a visibly damaged eye to end the second round.

Montiel was quick off his stool in the third round and went right after Adames which lasted for all but a few seconds before Adames reestablished dominance. Montiel’ s low hands left him an easy target for the crisp and accurate punching Adames. With a flurry, Adames battered Montiel into a seemingly defenseless state leaving the referee, Ray Corona, little choice but to stop the fight.

By way of knockout at 2:37 of the third round, Adames impressively knocks out Montiel who went the distance with reigning WBC middleweight champ, Jermall Charlo. captures the WBC Interim middleweight title. Charlo will now have to fight Adames or vacate his belt should he decide to move up to 168 pounds as has been rumored.

“I think I’m No. 1 and let’s hope the big names of the division have the courage to face me now. I want to thank everyone who came out to see me. I want to thank my team, SHOWTIME, PBC. I do think I’m No. 1 right now.

“The referee did his job. I’m a strong fighter and if I had hit him again I would have really hurt him. He’s a young guy and he still has a career ahead of him in boxing.

“I know once I connected on that right hand it was over and he didn’t have much left and then I went in for the kill. He was done at that point and I went on the attack. His face tells you everything.

“I’m happy for my country and for the people and the fans who came out to see me. I’m happy for my province in the Dominican Republic. They’re very happy for my victory and for my performance tonight.

“My trainer Bob Santos knows a lot about boxing and he knows the hard work that we put in for this training camp. I’m ready for the best of the division, for not just Jermall Charlo but for all the champions there. I want to face them and beat them.”

Martinez Retains Title in Rematch

Argentina’s IBF junior bantamweight champion Fernando Martinez (15-0, 8 KO’s) and former world champion Jerwin Ancajas (33-3-2, 22 KO’s) of the Philippines met in a rematch going the distance to kick off the Showtime Championship Boxing telecast. The two fighters came out swinging, going at each other in the opening round as this fight appeared to begin where it left off the last time. The aggressiveness from the Argentinian appeared to get the better of Martinez as he was momentarily staggered in the second from an Ancajas counter but continued to go at the Filipino and fight on. Ancajas landed a low blow in the third as Martinez attacked but the referee did not catch it. Staying close and on top, Martinez pressed in the fourth as Ancajas boxed and countered, later in the round a vicious exchange from the two in closing the round.

Martinez appeared to have a cut on his left eye from a clash of heads, going into the fifth round as he continued to press the bouncy southpaw Ancajas. In the final seconds of the round, Ancajas connected with a solid counter as Martinez responded with his aggressive charging attack. It was close heading into the sixth, but the Argentinian Martinez closed the round strong connecting Ancajas with big punches. Coming out strong in the seventh, Martinez attacked and cornered Ancajas, a clash of heads opened a cut above Ancajas left eye but that did not keep the fighters from trading. The cut appeared to get bad for Ancajas as blood trickled down. Staying aggressive in the eighth, Martinez landed the big punches as Ancajas was limited and appeared tired.

Trading in the center in the ninth, Martinez punched away hard and attacked backing Ancajas to the ropes, the Filipino stayed composed and boxed, despite Martinez’s heavy onslaught. Another non-stop round in the tenth as Martinez and Ancajas traded away and connected. In the championship rounds, Martinez stayed on the attack and later slipped, drawing the Filipino contingency off their seats but the two fighters continued to trade. Ancajas urged Martinez to trade in the twelfth and final round, however things got a little rough as Martinez shoved Ancajas to the ropes, a few seconds later Martinez connected with a series of big punches as he continued to press on to the final bell

After twelve hard fought rounds, the judges scored the fight 119-109, 118-110, and 118-110 as Fernando Martinez retains his IBF title.

Former world title challenger, Lithuanian welterweight Egidijus Kavaliauskas (23-2-1, 18 KO’s) won a unanimous decision against Mykal Fox (22-3, 5 KO’s) of Washington, D.C. Stantionis floored Fox early on twice in the round. The Mean Machine was the aggressor pressing Fox throughout the fight as Fox basically fought to survive following the knockdowns.

Attacking much of the fight behind a strong jab, Kavaliauaskas stood on Fox. The second half of the fight saw Kavaliauskas chase and continuing to attack as Fox kept his distance and boxed away using his height and reach to his advantage. It was all Mean Machine as he continued to attack and landing big punches backing Fox, closing to impress the judges in route to the decision.

The judges scored bout 100-88, 99-89, and 98-90 in favor of the Mean Machine.

The ladies were in action as Gabriela Fundora (9-0, 4 KO’s) the younger sister of headliner Sebastian, was featured on the SHOWTIME SPORTS YouTube channel and SHOWTIME Boxing Facebook as she took on Naomi Reyes (9-2, 5 KO’s) of Mexico. put on a boxing clinic to win a clear-cut unanimous decision victory over tough but outmatched Naomi Reyes (9-2, 5KO) in a ten round flyweight bout. It was already the sixth win of 2022 for the busy Fundora who is making her way up the ranks to a world title bout. There were no knockdowns in the bout and judges scored it 99-91, 98-92 and 99-91, all in favor of Fundora.

In a minor upset, Edward Vasquez (13-1, 3KO) edged a split decision victory over Viktor Slavinskyi (13-2-1, 6KO). Vazquez, seemed to beat Slavinskyi to the punch on many occasions. There were no knockdowns in the bout. Judges scored the bout 74-78, 77-75 and 79-73 in favor of Vasquez in the eight-round featherweight contest.

Filipino middleweight prospect Eumir Marcial (3-0, 1 KO’s) won a one-sided unanimous decision over the local Steven Pichardo (8-3-1, 2 KO’s) of Gardena. Marcial was badly cut by an accidental headbutt in the second round and was a bloody mess for the remainder of the six round middleweight bout. Judges scored it unanimously 60-54 in favor of Marcial in what appeared to be a much more evenly contested fight.

Lightweight prospect Justin Cardona (9-0, 4 KO’s) of Salinas California won a unanimous decision over Angel Rebollar (5-2, 3 KO’s) of Los Angeles. In a competitive lightweight battle that went the six round distance. Judges saw the bout 57-57, 59-55 and 58-56 in favor of Rebollar who gets the hard fought and well-earned victory.

Phoenix’s middleweight prospect Elijah Garcia (12-0, 10 KO’s) drilled Edgar Valenzuela (7-2, 6 KO’s) of Mexico stopping him in the first round of a scheduled six round middleweight bout.

In the opening bout, the local fighter got things going as super welterweight Brandon Lynch (12-1-1, 9 KO’s) of Los Angeles stopped Rogque Junco (11-13-1, 6 KO’s). Junco was down in the first round but was able to continue only to get stopped two rounds later in a scheduled six round super welterweight bout.

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