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Mike CoppingerESPN
Gervonta Davis defends his WBA “regular” lightweight title against Isaac Cruz in the main event of a Showtime PPV boxing card Sunday night at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Davis (25-0, 24 KOs), 27, of Baltimore, Maryland, is one of the most exciting young boxers in the sport. He is a three-division champion, and won the lightweight belt by scoring a 12th-round TKO over Yuriorkis Gamboa in 2019. Davis defended the title against Leo Santa Cruz in October 2020 and then moved up in weight to win the WBA “regular” junior welterweight belt against Mario Barrios back in June.
Cruz (22-1-1, 15 KOs), 23, of Mexico, stepped up when Davis’ original opponent, Rolando Romero, was pulled from the fight after being accused of sexual assault in late October.
Cruz hasn’t lost a fight in almost six years and has won 11 consecutive bouts since a draw in 2017. In his most recent fight in June, Cruz defeated former junior lightweight champion Francisco Vargas by decision.
In the co-main event, Sebastian Fundora (17-0-1, 12 KOs), 23, of West Palm Beach, Florida, faces Sergio Garcia (33-0, 14 KOs), 29, of Spain, in a 12-round WBC junior middleweight title eliminator.
Stay here for live results and analysis.
Fight in progress: Sergiy Derevyanchenko vs. Carlos Adames, 10 rounds, middleweights
Results:
Ramirez dominates Marriaga for decision victory
Eduardo Ramirez outpointed Miguel Marriaga in a 130-pound fight to kick off the Davis-Cruz PPV broadcast. All three judges scored it the same: 99-90.
Ramirez (26-2-3, 12 KOs) sent Marriaga (30-5, 26 KOs) down with an overhand left with seconds remaining in the third round. The 26-year-old from Mexico used that punch to great effect throughout the bout. He consistently beat Marriaga to the punch and created tremendous swelling around both of Marriaga’s eyes.
With the victory, Ramirez inches closer to title contention at junior lightweight. Marriaga, a 35-year-old from Colombia, is best known for losing to Vasiliy Lomachenko and Oscar Valdez in 2017.
Still to come:
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Title fight: Gervonta Davis vs. Isaac Cruz, 12 rounds, for Davis’ WBA “regular” lightweight title
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Sebastian Fundora vs. Sergio Garcia, 12 rounds, WBC junior middleweight title eliminator