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Golden Girl Gabriela Fundora Makes Boxing History
Gabriela “Sweet Poison” Fundora (15-0, 7 KOs) achieved her dream of becoming the youngest unified, undisputed champion in boxing Saturday in Las Vegas.
Fundora added the WBC/WBO/WBA and Ring Magazine titles to her IBF belt with a seventh-round TKO win over outgunned Gabriela Alaniz of Argentina (15-2, 6 KOs).
Gabriela Fundora punished Gabriela Alaniz with combination punching and hard right and left hooks. Photo: Cris Esqueda, Golden Boy Boxing
Fundora surpassed Devin Haney at 22 years and 219 days old. Haney held the previous record at 23 years and 220 days old.
“It feels amazing!” said Fundora of her accomplishment. Supported by her father and trainer Freddy Fundora Junior, and her brother, current WBC and WBO world super welterweight champion Sebastian Fundora, working her corner, it was a win for the entire Fundora team.
Fundora said the game plan was to box in the first half of the fight, encouraging Alaniz to employ a high work rate and tire her out.
“She was coming in a little bit overpowering, but my corner was just like ‘relax, stick to our game plan,’ and that’s what we did. I was training for that, too,” explained Fundora. Alaniz is a volume puncher, and she was willing to trade shots to land her own.
Gabriela Fundora followed her game plan and got the knockout victory she wanted against Gabriela Alaniz. Photo: Cris Esqueda, Golden Boy Boxing
But the Fundora game plan worked to perfection. Fundora said she landed a body shot in the sixth round. “I actually heard Bernard (Hopkins) say, ‘Throw to the body, throw the left upper!’ I told my dad back in the corner she slowed down with the body.”
The elder Fundora agreed. Gabriela Fundora went hunting for the knockout she wanted in the seventh round and scored a knockdown midway into round seven with a three-punch left-right-left combination.
Alaniz beat the count. With 40 seconds left, could Fundora close the show? She could. Ten seconds after Alaniz hit the canvas the first time, Fundora landed a hard left hook, spinning Alaniz over face down. Alaniz bravely reached her feet, but her corner threw in the towel.
Gabriela Fundora Shows Boxing Skills
Gabriela Fundora celebrated in the ring after the corner of her opponent threw in the towel. Photo: Cris Esqueda, Golden Boy Boxing
Fundora said although she’s known as a power puncher, she showed her boxing skills. “Boxing, a lot of boxing. There are a lot of people who say I don’t know how to box. I think we proved it. We got her a little bit tired so in the later rounds, that punch came out beautiful. I told my dad, this is the one punch I want to get her knocked out with, and it was.”
Fundora understands how important knockout wins are because they are crowd-pleasers.
“Listen to how the crowd was,” said Fundora as the fans cheered in agreement. “There you go, that explains it all. I think everyone enjoys a knockout. I wouldn’t watch women’s boxing if there wasn’t any knockouts, and that’s what we delivered today.”
Golden Girl Dedicates Fight to the Golden Boy
More divisions to conquer for Gabriela Fundora in the future? Photo: Cris Esqueda, Golden Boy Boxing
Fundora dedicated the fight to Golden Boy Boxing promoter Oscar De La Hoya. “This is why I wear the gold shorts. He’s making a new era – Golden Boy is welcoming the Golden Girl. This one’s for you.”
Fundora said she and her team would talk about her next step and future goals. Fundora is tall enough to move up multiple weight classes, but she laughed and admitted she could probably made light flyweight at 108 pounds.
Fundora’s rise couldn’t come at a better time, with women’s boxing enjoying unprecedented attention and prominence. It’s in large part due to fighters like Fundora, Amanda Serrano, and Katie Taylor, who understand it’s also vital to entertain as well as win.
Floyd Schofield Wins Wide Decision Against Giron
Floyd Schofield outworked and outslugged tough Rene Tellez Giron for the win. Photo: Cris Esqueda, Golden Boy Boxing
Lightweight Floyd Schofield of Austin (18-0, 12 KOs) won a wide decision against tough veteran Rene Tellez Giron of Mexico (20-4, 13 KOs). Scorecards read 118-109, 118-109, and 116-111. Schofield, ranked second by the WBA, knew it would be a tall order stopping Giron. Schofield could have boxed Giron all night.
In the later rounds, Schofield took more chances, and Giron scored a knockdown in the 11th round, aided by tangled legs as Schofield threw from a southpaw stance. A slugfest broke out and the pair blasted away.
It could have been a disaster. Schofield’s father and trainer, Floyd Senior, said “You have three minutes, you better box!” Schofield was well ahead on the cards, and he made it to the final bell by avoiding Giron’s attempts to land his best punch, the left hook.
Floyd Schofield said his father and trainer Floyd Sr. would prefer if he boxed more, but he likes to put on a show. Photo: Cris Esqueda, Golden Boy Boxing
“I feel real good,” said Schofield of the win, calling Giron a tough fighter. “I think I hit him with a four piece combination, I cracked him, and I’m like, ‘man he’s standing right in front of me. I might have to go all 12.’”
Schofield said he knew his father wanted him to work behind the jab and move. He had different plans. “I wanted to give the fans an entertaining fight at the end of the day. Just bang it out if I’ve gotta bang it out. I knew he wasn’t going to stand there and let me box him the whole fight.”
Schofield says he knows you can’t always get the knockout, so you need to dig deep and keep going. Schofield is ranked second in the WBA and wins an interim title, lining up as a challenger ahead for champion Shakur Stevenson, who was live tweeting during the fight.
Ready For Shakur?
Floyd Schofield feels he’s ready for Shakur Stevenson, but promoter Oscar De La Hoya isn’t on board. Photo: Cris Esqueda, Golden Boy Boxing
“Everybody knows what I want,” said Schofield. “Shakur’s not Rene. Shakur don’t got the power like Rene. He don’t have the dog in him. It’s going to be a very one sided fight in my opinion.”
Promoter Oscar De La Hoya has other ideas, giving Schofield just a C-minus.
“We knew Floyd was going to get tested. This kid (Giron) has a chin like granite. You learn from this fight and grow. Floyd will come back bigger, better, faster, and wiser. He’s only 22 years old. There’s no rush whatsoever. He has the skill, he has the ability, he has the mindset. But we have to slow him down somewhat.”
Schofield landed 255 or 766 punches thrown (33%) against 70 of 282 for Giron (25%).
Melikuziev Goes the Distance For Decision Against Stevens
Bektemir Melikuziev had to battle David Stevens for 12 rounds to get his victory. Photo: Cris Esqueda, Golden Boy Boxing
Super middleweight Bektemir Melikuziev of Indio, California (15-1, 10 KOs) got all he could handle from a tough and determined David Stevens of Reading, Pennsylvania (14-2, 10 KOs). If you bet the under, you weren’t alone in being wrong. The pair went all 12 rounds in a crowd-pleasing action fight.
The result: a split decision in Melikuziev’s favor, a fair call but on wider than expected cards. Melikuziev won with two cards of 118-109, and the third went to Stevens, 116-112. Judges saw the hard looping left power punches of Melikuziev, while Stevens had success going to the body.
Melikuziev landed 165 of 517 total punches thrown (32%), with 143 of them power punches. Stevens landed 169 of 708 total punches thrown (24%), with just 98 power punches.
Quick Work For Iriarte and Fulghum
Welterweight Joel Iriarte is going to be a problem for the division. Photo: Cris Esqueda, Golden Boy Boxing
Welterweight prospect Joel Iriarte of Bakersfield, California (5-0, 5 KOs) expected to spend a few more rounds in the ring against Xavier Madrid of Albuquerque (5-6, 2 KOs). Madrid had never been stopped. Not anymore. Iriarte used Madrid for target practice, knocking him down twice and battering him around the ring until referee Thomas Taylor had seen enough, ending the fight at 1:32 of the first round.
Did Darius Fulghum deliver, or did he catch Christopher Pearson on a bad night? Photo: Cris Esqueda, Golden Boy Boxing
It was also an early night for Darius Fulghum of Hollywood, Florida (12-1, 8 KOs). Although Christopher Pearson of Selma, Texas (12-5-1, 12 KOs) was a late replacement opponent, Pearson said he came in prepared and would put up a strong effort. It didn’t materialize. Fulghum scored an early knockdown in the first round, and forced a referee stoppage at 1:02 of the third round when referee Mike Ortega had seen enough.
