By: Sean Crose

Sunday night’s Showtime pay per view card from LA’s Staples Center kicked off with a scheduled 10 round WBC super featherweight eliminator between the 30-4 Miguel Marriaga and the 25-2-3 Eduardo Ramirez. The early portion of the fight was quite exciting, with both men trading punches. Indeed, the second saw each man having very strong moments. About a third of the way through the scheduled 10 rounder, it seemed that the fight would go down to who had more in the tank. With that in mind, an excellent left sent Marriaga down at the end of third. Still, Marriaga seemingly got back to his feet no worse for wear.

By the middle of the bout, Marriaga was pushing the action while Ramirez threw heavy leather. Things were different in the sixth, however, as Ramirez moved forward while landing his thudding punches. As the bout headed into the later rounds, Marriaga was looking weaker as he continued to take punishment. The ninth round saw Marriaga going on pure heart. Both men banged away like warriors up until the final bell. Needless to say, Ramirez left the ring with the UD win.

Next up, the popular 13-3 middleweight Sergey Derevyanchenko faced off against the 20-0-1 Carlos Adames in a scheduled 10 round affair. The early portion of the fight was extremely exciting. Indeed, by the end of the second, the fighters appeared to be at war, with Adames getting a slight edge on his game opponent. The battle remained a high octane affair as it headed into the middle of the scheduled ten rounds. By the end of the fifth, the fighters were still firing away at each other.

Adames looked to be getting sapped of his strength as the match headed into the later rounds. Still, he was able to at the very least keep his own against a focused Derevyanchenko. Things remained close in an action packed final round. It was a terrific fight. Adames ended up being rewarded a majority decision win.

The pay per view undercard wrapped up with a WBC junior middleweight eliminator. The 17-0-1 Sebastian Fundora took on the 33-0 Sergio Garcia in a scheduled 12 rounder. Fundora employed his far greater reach in the opening round. Garcia, meanwhile, tried to play Dempsey to Fundora’s Willard. The first portion of the bout was essentially an entertaining contest between a taller man wanting to maintain range and a shorter man trying to get inside. Garcia had what appeared to be a serious cut heading into the fifth.

By the middle of the fight both men were certainly working hard for their money. There may not have been any amazing displays of power, but the fighters were exchanging leather. When the match reached the eighth round, it appeared that Fundora might have simply been too tall for his man. Garcia was relentless, but he may not have had the skill set to best a man of Fundora’s height. Then again, Garcia was the more active of the two men in the ninth.

Things became a bit sloppy in the tenth, with both men probably being a bit drained. The final rounds were interesting, with Fundora picking up the pace and throwing punches in combinations. Garcia, on the other hand, kept charging forward, absolutely giving it his all. With all that being said, it was Fundora who was able to add another victory to his resume, thanks to a unanimous decision from the judges in his favor.

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