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Tank Davis Survives His LA Premier; Turns Away Tenacious Isaac Cruz

LOS ANGELES-It was the Los Angeles premiere for Gervonta “Tank” Davis and though his knockout streak was snapped, and the scores were close, the WBA lightweight titlist was able to breathe a sigh of relief in defeating Isaac Cruz by unanimous decision on Sunday.
If not for an injured left wing who knows what might have happened. But it was not a flop.
Still, Davis (26-0, 24 KOs) sold out the Staples Center with a crowd of 15,850 and held off the withering charges of Mexico’s rough and tough Cruz (22-2-1,15 KOs) who never stopped charging like a wound-up bull.
It just wasn’t enough against the more skillful and athletic Davis.
Fans expected to witness another of Tank’s sterling knockouts as he had accomplished in 16 consecutive clashes with the likes of Mario Barrios, Leo Santa Cruz and Yuri Gamboa. But the shorter Cruz was a different scenario altogether.
“He’s a short fighter so I was hitting hm on the top of the head,” said Davis, a southpaw, who thinks he hurt his left hand around the fifth round.
Up until the fifth round, Davis shined with his smooth footwork, snapping lefts and sizzling uppercuts. Everything was working against Cruz who was perhaps the shortest foe the champion had faced in many years.
Several exchanges took place with Davis targeting the head of the crouching Cruz who hungrily sought to land to the body, head or anything tangible. During one exchange Davis emerged with a pained look on his face.
“The beginning of the fight I felt as the fight went on, he was breaking down. But I hurt my hand. I was just warming up,” said Davis.
Cruz felt he recognized the moment too.
“In the fifth round I saw it,” said Cruz who tried to take advantage. But still had to deal with the champions movement.
The Mexican fighter found success by targeting the body and then the head with double rights. It snapped the head of Davis numerous times and began to change the momentum.
Fans sensed the change.
Davis snapped jabs and juked left or right like an NFL running back looking to evade a linebacker. Cruz was aware of the one-handed Davis and was anxious to capitalize. Sometimes he did, and sometimes he didn’t. The scores were getting close.
The Mexican fighter charged forward looking to establish a point of attack, Davis would not allow it. The champion snapped jabs and right hooks to keep Cruz from mounting a solid attack.
In the 12th and final round, Cruz used his own jabs and rights to connect. The entire arena saw scores posted by television judges and were aware that an upset could happen. Davis scored with shorts shots and slightly movement to keep Cruz off-balance. It seemed to work.
All three judges scored in favor of the champion Davis 116-112, 115-113 twice. Those were very close scores and only the second time anyone had forced the judges to decide the victor.
Davis congratulated Cruz.
“A star was born tonight,” said Davis. “LA we did it baby.”
As for fighting any of the other talented lightweights such as George Kambosos Jr., Devin Haney, or contenders like Ryan Garcia, Teofimo Lopez and Vasyl Lomachenko?
“All of those guys are easy work,” said the fighter known as Tank.
Other Bouts
Super tall Sebastian Fundora won the battle of undefeated super welterweights over Spain’s Sergio Garcia after 12 back and forth rounds in an elimination fight to face the WBC world titlist.
Fundora displayed more accuracy and movement in fending off the never-ending attacks of Garcia. Despite some perfect shots connected by the Spanish fighter it was never enough to keep Fundora from retaliating with shots of his own. After 12 rounds all three judges scored for Fundora 115-113, 117-111, 118-110.
“I wanted to display a bit of my boxing and movement in this fight,” said Fundora, who towers over almost every super welterweight in the world. “We switched up a bit.”
Carlos Adames (21-1, 16 KOIs) out-slugged highly-ranked contender Sergiy Derevyanchenko (13-4, 10 KOs) to win the WBC super welterweight eliminator. Both had their moments, but it was the southpaw Adames that was able to do just a little more than the Ukrainian fighter.
“Discipline in the gym contributed to this win,” said Adames. “I’m ready and one of the best at this weight.”
Derevyanchenko seemed just a tick off and that allowed Adames just enough room to connect with uppercuts and combinations. The only surprise was that neither fighter was decked in the very close fight won by Adames by majority decision.
“It was a quality fight,” Derevyanchenko said perfectly.
Mexico’s Eduardo Ramirez (26-2-3, 12 KOs) won a super featherweight title eliminator by unanimous decision versus Colombia’s Miguel Marriaga (30-5,26 KOs) but despite the overwhelming scores it was not that easy.
Ramirez and Marriaga traded vicious blows to open the fight with the Colombian starting slightly quicker. But a counter left cross dropped Marriaga in the third round and it suddenly seemed Ramirez had figured out the recipe to success. Body shots and up and down combinations kept Marriaga from rallying behind his big blows but he found enough to make each round interesting.
Ramirez always seemed to land three to one and that kept Marriage unable to mount a rally. After 10 rounds all three judges scored it 99-90 for Ramirez.
A battle between contending super welterweights saw Vaughn Alexander (16-6-1, 9 KOs) win by split decision over southpaw Luis Arias (19-3-1, 9 KOs) after a 10-round back and forth battle. Scores were 96-93 twice for Alexander and 96-93 for Arias.
Former world champion Ava Knight (20-2-5, 5 KOs) returned in a six-round fight against former world title challenger Nancy Franco (19-16-2 and used her sharp punching and footwork to win by unanimous decision.
Franco had her moments but Knight, who held the flyweight world title in the past; never allowed the Mexican fighter to have too many moments. No knockdowns were scored but Knight was ruled the winner by unanimous decision.
Mia Ellis (3-0, 2 KOs) won by unanimous decision after four rounds versus Elizabeth Tuani (1-5) in a super featherweight fight. Ellis started off quickly with combinations but after the second round Tuani began finding success inside. Ellis maintained her poise and kept the fight in front of her.
A heavyweight fight saw Las Vegas fighter Carlos Garcon and Bakersfield’s Jason Soto fight to a split draw. Garcon used his height and reach to keep Soto outside. But the shorter fighter discovered the jab and changed the momentum in the third round. One judge saw it 39-37 for Garcon, another 39-37 for Soto, and a third saw it even 38-38.
Jalil Hackett (3-0) defeated Darynn Leyva (1-3-1) by unanimous decision after four rounds in a welterweight fight.
Photo credit: Al Applerose
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Avila Perspective, Chap. 322: Super Welter Week in SoCal

Two below-the-radar super welterweight stars show off their skills this weekend from different parts of Southern California.
One in particular, Charles Conwell, co-headlines a show in Oceanside against a hard-hitting Mexican while another super welter star Sadriddin Akhmedov faces another Mexican hitter in Commerce.
Take your pick.
The super welterweight division is loaded with talent at the moment. If Terence Crawford remained in the division he would be at the top of the class, but he is moving up several weight divisions.
Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) faces Jorge Garcia Perez (32-4, 26 KOs) a tall knockout puncher from Los Mochis at the Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, Calif. on Saturday April 19. DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotions card that also features undisputed flyweight champion Gabriela Fundora. We’ll get to her later.
Conwell might be the best super welterweight out there aside from the big dogs like Vergil Ortiz, Serhii Bohachuk and Sebastian Fundora.
If you are not familiar with Conwell he comes from Cleveland, Ohio and is one of those fighters that other fighters know about. He is good.
He has the James “Lights Out” Toney kind of in-your-face-style where he anchors down and slowly deciphers the opponent’s tools and then takes them away piece by piece. Usually it’s systematic destruction. The kind you see when a skyscraper goes down floor by floor until it’s smoking rubble.
During the Covid days Conwell fought two highly touted undefeated super welters in Wendy Toussaint and Madiyar Ashkeyev. He stopped them both and suddenly was the boogie man of the super welterweight division.
Conwell will be facing Mexico’s taller Garcia who likes to trade blows as most Mexican fighters prefer, especially those from Sinaloa. These guys will be firing H bombs early.
Fundora
Co-headlining the Golden Boy card is Gabriela Fundora (15-0, 7 KOs) the undisputed flyweight champion of the world. She has all the belts and Mexico’s Marilyn Badillo (19-0-1, 3 KOs) wants them.
Gabriela Fundora is the sister of Sebastian Fundora who holds the men’s WBC and WBO super welterweight world titles. Both are tall southpaws with power in each hand to protect the belts they accumulated.
Six months ago, Fundora met Argentina’s Gabriela Alaniz in Las Vegas to determine the undisputed flyweight champion. The much shorter Alaniz tried valiantly to scrap with Fundora and ran into a couple of rocket left hands.
Mexico’s Badillo is an undefeated flyweight from Mexico City who has battled against fellow Mexicans for years. She has fought one world champion in Asley Gonzalez the current super flyweight world titlist. They met years ago with Badillo coming out on top.
Does Badillo have the skill to deal with the taller and hard-hitting Fundora?
When a fighter has a six-inch height advantage like Fundora, it is almost impossible to out-maneuver especially in two-minute rounds. Ask Alaniz who was nearly decapitated when she tried.
This will be Badillo’s first pro fight outside of Mexico.
Commerce Casino
Kazakhstan’s Sadriddin Akhmedov (15-0, 13 KOs) is another dangerous punching super welterweight headlining a 360 Promotions card against Mexico’s Elias Espadas (23-6, 16 KOs) on Saturday at the Commerce Casino.
UFC Fight Pass will stream the 360 Promotions card of about eight bouts.
Akhmedov is another Kazakh puncher similar to the great Gennady “GGG” Golovkin who terrorized the middleweight division for a decade. He doesn’t have the same polish or dexterity but doesn’t lack pure punching power.
It’s another test for the super welterweight who is looking to move up the ladder in the very crowded 154-pound weight division. 360 Promotions already has a top contender in Ukraine’s Serhii Bohachuk who nearly defeated Vergil Ortiz a year ago.
Could Bohachuk and Akhmedov fight each other if nothing else materializes?
That’s a question for another day.
Fights to Watch
Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Charles Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) vs. Jorge Garcia Perez (32-4, 26 KOs); Gabriela Fundora (15-0) vs Marilyn Badillo (19-0-1).
Sat. UFC Fight Pass 6 p.m. Sadriddin Akhmedov (15-0) vs Elias Espadas (23-6).
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TSS Salutes Thomas Hauser and his Bernie Award Cohorts

The Boxing Writers Association of America has announced the winners of its annual Bernie Awards competition. The awards, named in honor of former five-time BWAA president and frequent TSS contributor Bernard Fernandez, recognize outstanding writing in six categories as represented by stories published the previous year.
Over the years, this venerable website has produced a host of Bernie Award winners. In 2024, Thomas Hauser kept the tradition alive. A story by Hauser that appeared in these pages finished first in the category “Boxing News Story.” Titled “Ryan Garcia and the New York State Athletic Commission,” the story was published on June 23. You can read it HERE.
Hauser also finished first in the category of “Investigative Reporting” for “The Death of Ardi Ndembo,” a story that ran in the (London) Guardian. (Note: Hauser has owned this category. This is his 11th first place finish for “Investigative Reporting”.)
Thomas Hauser, who entered the International Boxing Hall of Fame with the class of 2019, was honored at last year’s BWAA awards dinner with the A.J. Leibling Award for Outstanding Boxing Writing. The list of previous winners includes such noted authors as W.C. Heinz, Budd Schulberg, Pete Hamill, and George Plimpton, to name just a few.
The Leibling Award is now issued intermittently. The most recent honorees prior to Hauser were Joyce Carol Oates (2015) and Randy Roberts (2019).
Roberts, a Distinguished Professor of History at Purdue University, was tabbed to write the Hauser/Leibling Award story for the glossy magazine for BWAA members published in conjunction with the organization’s annual banquet. Regarding Hauser’s most well-known book, his Muhammad Ali biography, Roberts wrote, “It is nearly impossible to overestimate the importance of the book to our understanding of Ali and his times.” An earlier book by Hauser, “The Black Lights: Inside the World of Professional Boxing,” garnered this accolade: “Anyone who wants to understand boxing today should begin by reading ‘The Black Lights’.”
A panel of six judges determined the Bernie Award winners for stories published in 2024. The stories they evaluated were stripped of their bylines and other identifying marks including the publication or website for which the story was written.
Other winners:
Boxing Event Coverage: Tris Dixon
Boxing Column: Kieran Mulvaney
Boxing Feature (Over 1,500 Words): Lance Pugmire
Boxing Feature (Under 1,500 Words): Chris Mannix
The Dixon, Mulvaney, and Pugmire stories appeared in Boxing Scene; the Mannix story in Sports Illustrated.
The Bernie Award recipients will be honored at the forthcoming BWAA dinner on April 30 at the Edison Ballroom in the heart of Times Square. (For more information, visit the BWAA website). Two days after the dinner, an historic boxing tripleheader will be held in Times Square, the logistics of which should be quite interesting. Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney, and Teofimo Lopez share top billing.
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Mekhrubon Sanginov, whose Heroism Nearly Proved Fatal, Returns on Saturday

To say that Mekhrubon Sanginov is excited to resume his boxing career would be a great understatement. Sanginov, ranked #9 by the WBA at 154 pounds before his hiatus, last fought on July 8, 2022.
He was in great form before his extended leave, having scored four straight fast knockouts, advancing his record to 13-0-1. Had he remained in Las Vegas, where he had settled after his fifth pro fight, his career may have continued on an upward trajectory, but a trip to his hometown of Dushanbe, Tajikistan, turned everything haywire. A run-in with a knife-wielding bully nearly cost him his life, stalling his career for nearly three full years.
Sanginov was exiting a restaurant in Dushanbe when he saw a man, plainly intoxicated, harassing another man, an innocent bystander. Mekhrubon intervened and was stabbed several times with a long knife. One of the puncture wounds came perilously close to puncturing his heart.
“After he stabbed me, I ran after him and hit him and caught him to hold for the police,” recollects Sanginov. “There was a lot of confusion when the police arrived. At first, the police were not certain what had happened.
“By the time I got to the hospital, I had lost two liters of blood, or so I was told. After I was patched up, one of the surgeons said to me, ‘Give thanks to God because he gave you a second life.’ It is like I was born a second time.”
“I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It could have happened in any city,” he adds. (A story about the incident on another boxing site elicited this comment from a reader: “Good man right there. World would be a better place if more folk were willing to step up when it counts.”)
Sanginov first laced on a pair of gloves at age 10 and was purportedly 105-14 as an amateur. Growing up, the boxer he most admired was Roberto Duran. “Muhammad Ali will always be the greatest and [Marvin] Hagler was great too, but Duran was always my favorite,” he says.
During his absence from the ring, Sanginov married a girl from Tajikistan and became a father. His son Makhmud was born in Las Vegas and has dual citizenship. “Ideally,” he says, “I would like to have three more children. Two more boys and the last one a daughter.”
He also put on a great deal of weight. When he returned to the gym, his trainer Bones Adams was looking at a cruiserweight. But gradually the weight came off – “I had to give up one of my hobbies; I love to eat,” he says – and he will be resuming his career at 154. “Although I am the same weight as before, I feel stronger now. Before I was more of a boy, now I am a full-grown man,” says Sanginov who turned 29 in February.
He has a lot of rust to shed. Because of all those early knockouts, he has answered the bell for only eight rounds in the last four years. Concordantly, his comeback fight on Saturday could be described as a soft re-awakening. Sanginov’s opponent Mahonri Montes, an 18-year pro from Mexico, has a decent record (36-10-2, 25 KOs) but has been relatively inactive and is only 1-3-1 in his last five. Their match at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, California, is slated for eight rounds.
On May 10, Ardreal Holmes (17-0) faces Erickson Lubin (26-2) on a ProBox card in Kissimmee, Florida. It’s an IBF super welterweight title eliminator, meaning that the winner (in theory) will proceed directly to a world title fight.
Sanginov will be watching closely. He and Holmes were scheduled to meet in March of 2022 in the main event of a ShoBox card on Showtime. That match fell out when Sanginov suffered an ankle injury in sparring.
If not for a twist of fate, that may have been Mekhrubon Sanginov in that IBF eliminator, rather than Ardreal Holmes. We will never know, but one thing we do know is that Mekhrubon’s world title aspirations were too strong to be ruined by a knife-wielding bully.
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