Undercard Results from the Porter-Ugas Card in California: Ajagba Demolishes Mansour

The Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, formerly the Stub Hub Center, was the site of tonight’s Premier Boxing Champions card with Shawn Porter defending his WBC welterweight title against Yordenis Ugas in the featured bout televised on FOX. It’s a deep card that saw the undercard action commence in the middle of the afternoon underneath a sunny sky for the scattered knots of early-bird attendees.

In the first of the TV bouts on the main FOX platform, hot heavyweight prospect Efe Ajagba advanced to 9-0 (8) at the expense of Amir Mansour (23-4-1). Ajagba knocked Mansour down twice in the opening round, first with a straight right hand and then a left hook that knocked Mansour through the ropes. From that point on he fought a measured fight while continuing to punish Mansour who quit on his stool after two rounds.

“Definitely a future champion” was the assessment of TV commentator Lennox Lewis after the match was finished.

The 46-year-old Mansour, who squandered the best years of his career while serving stints in prison, has been matched tough. His last five opponents were a combined 87-1 going in.

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The Ajagba-Mansour bout preceded an entertaining 10-round welterweight skirmish between Abel Ramos and Francisco Santana. Ramos (24-3-2) came from behind to win a unanimous decision, outpointing Santana (25-7-1) by scores of 95-94, 97-92, and 98-92.

Santana knocked Ramos to the canvas in round two and was the aggressor through the first six rounds. But Ramos had a big seventh round, nailing Santana with a series of right uppercuts, and had Santana fighting off his back foot in the next round. In the end, the judges were impressed by the crisper punching of Ramos.

In a battle of southpaws, former WBA 118-pound world title holder Juan Carlos Payano won a unanimous decision over previously undefeated Damien Vazquez, now 14-1. The scores were 79-73 and 80-71 twice.

At age 21, Vazquez was the younger man by 13 years but he stepped up in class too far. There were no knockdowns, but Payano (21-2) suffered a severe cut under his right eye as a result of an accidental head butt. This was Payano’s first start since getting blasted out in the opening round by Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue in Yokohama.

Lithuanian welterweight Eimantas Stanionis, a 2016 Olympian, advanced to 8-0 with an 8-round unanimous decision over Puerto Rican southpaw Samuel Figueroa (11-2). Stanionis is a high-pressure fighter with heavy hands, but Figueroa had a sturdy chin and was never in serious trouble. The judges scored it 80-72 across the board.

In the opening bout of the evening, a 6-round featherweight contest, Viktor Slavinskyi, an LA-based Ukrainian, improved to 8-0 with a unanimous decision over Mexican veteran Luis May (21-13-1).

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