Cruz lays waste to Ramirez via second-round knockout in lightweight title eliminator

Mares held to draw in comeback fight; De Los Santos stops Valenzuela in upset; Spencer and Aleem cruise; Martin notches KO win

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Lightweight contender Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz easily destroyed Eduardo Ramirez in a second-round knockout victory in their WBC title eliminator on Sunday night at Crypto Arena in Los Angeles.

Fighting in the co-feature of the Premier Boxing Champions Fox Sports pay-per-view card headlined by the Andy Ruiz Jr.-Luis Ortiz heavyweight eliminator, Cruz electrified the crowd with a brutal and dynamic performance.

The second round was all Cruz, who landed a powerful left hook that dropped Ramirez hard on his face midway through the frame.

Ramirez (27-3-3, 12 KOs), 29, a southpaw from Mexico, was on his feet by referee Jack Reiss’ count of seven but he was in rough shape and it seemed like it was just a matter of time until Cruz finished him.

Cruz (24-2-1, 17 KOs), 24, attacked and forced his countryman to the ropes, where he blasted away. Cruz landed a nasty left hook-right hand combination and then another left-right combination that dropped a dazed Ramirez to his rear end in the corner and Reiss waved it off at 2 minutes, 27 seconds.

“I was ready to win at all costs, for my family and what better way to win than here in front of all the great fans in Los Angeles,” Cruz said through an interpreter.

According to CompuBox, Cruz landed 22 of 88 punches (25 percent) and Ramirez landed only five of 59 (9 percent).

Cruz won his second fight in a row by knockout — he also crushed Yuriorkis Gamboa in five one-sided rounds in April — since a controversial decision loss as a late replacement challenging secondary lightweight titlist Gervonta Davis in December 2021.

He wants another shot at Davis.

“We want the rematch with Gervonta Davis,” Cruz said. “That's what these fans want. I promised the knockout tonight and we got it done.”

Ramirez saw a five-fight winning streak come to a violent conclusion.

Mares, Flores fight to draw

Former three-division world titlist Abner Mares returned after more than four years out of the ring and settled for a majority draw with Miguel Flores in a lightweight bout.

One judges had it 96-94 for Mares but the other two judges scored it 95-95.

Mares felt like he won the fight and was glad to be back in the ring.

“Obviously, it had been over four years, so I was a little off with my timing and a little sluggish,” Mares said. “But I felt good and I thought I was landing the more powerful shots. He wasn't hurting me, so I was taking my time and boxing him. I didn't want to really put the pressure on too soon. I didn't have any problems in there. I felt good.

“I was just getting used to the timing again. After four years away I did enough to beat a young kid and an active fighter. My performance speaks for itself. The crowd was happy and it felt good to be home. I definitely felt like I won but it is what it is, the judges saw a draw.”

Mares started very well as he lashed Flores with clean punches and looked sharp.

He landed two huge right hands in the second round that both rocked Flores. Later in the round Mares landed another flush right hand that nearly dropped Flores.

Flores appeared to make a bit of a comeback in the middle rounds as Mares perhaps got a little tired from so much movement but Mares was also landing the harder punches and was never in any trouble.

With Mares (31-3-2, 15 KOs), 36, of Montebello, California, a former bantamweight, junior featherweight and featherweight titleholder, seemingly ahead, Flores’ corner told him after the eighth round that he had to win the final two rounds. He put in tremendous effort in a strong ninth round.

The final round began with Mares and Flores (25-4-1, 12 KOs), 30, of Spring, Texas, meeting in the center of the ring and brawling toe to toe for much of the round and when it was over it was obvious they had fought a very close fight.

According to CompuBox statistics, Mares landed 151 of 652 punches (23 percent) and Flores landed 124 of 665 (19 percent). Mares’ stats were skewed by the fact that he landed 42 of 109 in his very big second round. Mares had a 59-28 landed edge in the first two rounds.

“It was a good fight and obviously I thought that I pulled it off,” Flores said. “I know we're in his hometown and he's a veteran so it is what it is. He was trying to pot shot me, but I was catching most of it. He got me with a couple good shots early on but I felt like I was in control after the fourth round. 

“This leaves me in a great position. We got a draw against a three-division world champion so it leaves a good taste in your mouth.”

Mares, who is now a Showtime ringside analyst, had not boxed since losing a decision to Leo Santa Cruz in their featherweight title rematch in June 2018 at the same arena. A torn retina before a 2019 fight with then-junior lightweight titlist Gervonta Davis extended the layoff before he decided to come back last year and then embarked on a lengthy licensing procedure due to his eye injury followed by an extended training camp.

De Los Santos wins shootout

Lightweight Edwin De Los Santos, on standby and pressed into service during fight week, stopped hot prospect Jose Valenzuela in the third round for an upset in a wild shootout in which both men were knocked down.

De Los Santos (15-1, 14 KOs), 22, a southpaw from the Dominican Republic, was on site in case he was needed and he was when Valenzuela’s original foe, former junior lightweight titlist Jezreel Corrales, also a southpaw, was denied a visa to come to the United States due to legal issues.

De Los Santos took advantage of the opportunity.

“Valenzuela is a fighter who I feel has been protected and I wanted to show everyone what I'm capable of,” De Los Santos said. “The plan wasn't to come forward so much, but when I saw how he was fighting, I was ready to go toe to toe. The Mexican fighters love to fight like that, but he was open for me to attack.”

De Los Santos came out very aggressively and hurt Valenzuela (12-1, 8 KOs), 23, of Seattle, with a stiff jab in the opening round. He was beating Valenzuela up in the second round when Valenzuela suddenly dropped him to his knees with a left hand.

De Los Santos quickly rebounded to drop Valenzuela moments later but he also hit Valenzuela while he was down and referee Ray Corona docked him a point.

And then in the third round, De Los Santos again dropped Valenzuela early on and when another powerful left hand staggered Valenzuela moments later, Corona waved it off at 1 minute, 8 seconds.

“I came in against a ranked fighter tonight and I was up for the task,” De Los Santos said. “Now I want the same name that everyone wants. I want Gervonta Davis.”

Said Valenzuela: “I didn't expect De Los Santos to be as aggressive as he was in the fight,” Valenzuela said. “He gave it out as he good as he took. I just want to focus on getting back in the ring and redeeming myself.”

Spencer cruises past Salgado

Junior middleweight Joey Spencer handily outpointed Kevin Salgado in a preliminary bout that aired on Fox just before the start of the pay-per-view.

Spencer (16-0, 10 KOs), 22, of Fenton, Michigan, handed Salgado (14-1-1, 9 KOs), 24, of San Antonio, his first defeat via scores of 100-90, 99-91, 99-91.

“He's a hard-hitting counter puncher, so we wanted to control the distance,” Spencer said. “I feel really strong. I'm really proud of the work that we put into my conditioning and I think it showed in the fight. 

“I’m improving as I get more experience, and that helps me stay more composed in these fights. I'm going to keep adding to my game as I get more comfortable. I'm definitely working towards improving as an offensive fighter.”

Spencer said he is looking for much bigger names in the near future.

“I have a couple ideas of who I want to fight next,” he said. “Tony Harrison, Tim Tszyu, Erickson Lubin and Sebastian Fundora are all guys I want to fight. I want to face the best. There’s one champion in the division (undisputed champion Jermell Charlo) and we have to fight each other to get to him.”

Aleem routs Plania

Junior featherweight contender Ra’eese Aleem scored a second-round knockdown en route to a shutout decision over Mike Plania in a preliminary bout that aired on FS1.

Aleem (20-0, 12 KOs), 32, of Las Vegas had no trouble with Plania (26-2, 13 KOs), 25, of the Philippines, winning 100-89 on all three scorecards.

“The fight was everything that I expected,” Aleem said. “He's a very tough fighter and a great competitor. I just wanted to fight a smart fight because we know he's dangerous. Although I didn't feel his power, I know that he can hit. I just wanted to take my time and let everything fall into place.

“My defense was on another level and my offense was also strong. I kept my poise and took my time. I'm that type of fighter where I don't care if it's the first round or the last round or if I'm up on the cards. I want to stop you. I want to get you out of there. It was probably around the seventh round where I tried to turn up the volume, but I didn't want to take any unnecessary chances.”

Aleem’s biggest moment was the knockdown early in the second round when he touched Plania with a right hand to the body that caused Plania to stumble and touch his glove to the canvas.

“I caught him slipping in round two. I could have jumped on him then, but I wanted to show growth as a fighter and keep taking my time,” Aleem said.

He wants a title shot now, specifically against unified titlist and fellow PBC fighter Stephen Fulton. Jr.

“It's time for 'scared boy' Stephen Fulton Jr. to come out of hiding and sign the contract,” Aleem said. “Let's get in there so I can give him his first loss. It would be a closer fight than tonight, but I still expect to dominate and get the win.”

Aleem-Plania was originally scheduled for Jun 18 on the undercard of WBC middleweight titlist Jermall Charlo’s bout with Maciej Sulecki, but the card was canceled when Charlo hurt his back.

Martin stops Vargas

Former heavyweight titlist Charles Martin stopped for journeyman Devin Vargas in the fourth round of a scheduled eight-rounder with an accumulation of punches.

Martin (29-3-1, 26 KOs), 36, of Carson, California, dominated the fight and after forcing Vargas to the ropes continued to land stiff punches that caused referee Jerry Cantu to stop it 1 minute of the fourth.

Martin rebounded from a sixth-round knockout loss to Luis Ortiz on New Year’s Day in a shootout in which he dropped Ortiz in the first and fourth rounds before Ortiz knocked him down twice in the sixth round.

Vargas (22-8, 9 KOs), 40, who was a 2004 U.S. Olympian, dropped to 2-4 in his last six fights.

Cruz-Ramirez, Mares-Flores, De Los Santos-Valenzuela, Martin-Vargas photos: Stephanie Trapp/TGB Promotions; Spencer-Salgado, Aleem-Plania photos: Ryan Hafey/PBC

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