Andy Ruiz Jr vs Raphael Zumbano Love
At the CenturyLink Center, Omaha, chief support saw Andy Ruiz Jr dish out 8 rounds of severe punishment to Raphael Zumbano Love. It was lopsided without question, and plenty violent. Ruiz Jr, despite his bloated physique, demonstrated once again that appearances can be very deceiving. The 26-year-old put together some impressive combinations, all of which were laced with poison.
Zumbano was overwhelmed on just about level possible, but credit where credit’s due: the guy was one tough mother. Yes, the 34-year-old took quite a beating, and will have surprised everyone by going the full 8 rounds. Zumbano never hit the canvas once either, which is perhaps even more surprising.
When the final bell chimed, two judges had it 80-72, and the other 80-70. Boxing Base had it 80-72, but couldn’t argue with the third judge who obviously scored a couple of 10-8 rounds. Andy Ruiz Jr now plumps his record to 26 wins, no defeats, 17 knockouts, while Ralphael Zumbano Love’s falls to 37 wins, 12 defeats, 1 draw, 30 knockouts.
Evgeny Gradovich vs Aldimar Silva Santos
I take it back. This was no mismatch. Evgeny Gradovich had to work hard to pull off a Split Decision win over a cute, very competent Aldimar Silva. Gradovich may have actually been outlanded in this 8-rounder (short of seeing official punch stats), but it was the Russian’s higher punch volume and aggression that allowed him to pinch the victory on the Crawford-Jean undercard.
So much for an easy tune-up for ol’ Gradovich, who lost his IBF Featherweight title to Lee Selby earlier this year. Anyway, a win’s a win. And Gradovich has officially returned to winning ways, despite being tagged with quite a number of clean blows in this encounter. Scorecards read 79-71, 77-75, and 78-74 at the final bell. Here at Boxing Base we saw it 77-75.
Evgeny Gradovich now improves to 20 wins, 1 defeat, 1 draw, 9 knockouts, while Aldimar Silva drops to 19 wins, 9 defeats, 12 knockouts.
Mikael Zewski vs Ayi Bruce
Mikael Zewski looked strong, fast, and a fairly polished fighter against Ayi Bruce. That said, it seemed like Bruce was content to coast through each round, with little ambition to capture victory. After losing every round on Boxing Base’s scorecard, Bruce was knocked down following a right-hand in the 5th. The Ghana-born fighter seemed happy to rest on the canvas while the referee counted to ten, which perhaps says all you need to know about the match-making here.
Mikael Zewski now climbs to 27 wins, 1 loss, 21 knockouts, while Ayi Bruce falls to 23 wins, 12 losses, 15 knockouts.
Give us your take on the Crawford-Jean undercard below, fight fans.
