ANAHEIM, California – Undisputed flyweight queen Gabriela Fundora keeps crushing the competition.
Fundora (18-0, 10 KOs) defended her Ring, IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO titles by dropping and stopping Viviana Ruiz (10-3, 5 KOs) in six rounds on the Arnold Barboza-Kenneth Sims card Saturday at Honda Center. The 23-year-old southpaw from Coachella Valley, California, dominated Ruiz by outlanding her 102-22 in a one-sided fight. The stoppage win was the sixth in seven fights during Fundora’s 112-pound title reign, which started in 2023. Fundora knocked down Ruiz in the closing seconds of the fourth round with a three-punch combination and ended the fifth with a flurry of punches before ending matters in the sixth with a series of unanswered punches in the corner. The onslaught forced referee Ray Corona to step in and stop the action at 1:25 of the round. Ruiz, a 43-year-old engineer-turned-fighter who started her pro career five years ago, landed a punch here and there, but her offensive attack wasn’t anywhere near enough to get Fundora’s respect. Fundora leveraged her speed, power, and 7-inch height and reach advantage to make it impossible for Ruiz to get in range to muster an attack. “I think it was a good performance,” said Fundora. “I think she felt my punches right away, and I wanted to showcase something different.” “Sweet Poison” Fundora is No. 6 in The Ring’s pound-for-pound rankings and was named The Ring’s 2024 Fighter of the Year. Other results from Golden Boy Promotions card Joel Iriarte (10-0, 9 KOs) dropped Rock Dodler Myrthil (17-3-1, 13 KOs) in the sixth round with a left hook and stopped him standing soon after with a flurry of punches in their welterweight contest scheduled for eight. Iriarte outlanded Myrthil 63-26. Junior middleweight Grant Flores (13-0, 9 KOs) knocked down Rashid Stevens (6-2-2, 5 KOs) twice in the second round and again in the eighth to score a unanimous decision victory by scores of 79-70, 78-71 and 77-72. Junior middleweight Cayden Griffiths (8-0, 7 KOs) knocked down Omar Munguia (8-3-1, 6 KOs) twice in the opening round to score a comfortable first-round stoppage win. Middleweight Fabian Guzman (10-0, 8 KOs) scored an eight-round unanimous decision against Julian Delgado (9-2, 4 KOs) via scores of 79-73, 79-73 and 77-75. Lightweight Daniel Garcia (13-0, 10 KOs) dropped and stopped Blas Ezequiel Caro (12-10, 5 KOs) with a left hook in the second round. Junior lightweight Leonardo Sanchez (10-0, 8 KOs) opened the show in style by dropping and stopping Cesar Juarez (31-20, 24 KOs) in the second round courtesy of a chin-rattling right hand. Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVuofM2t6Ck
