A statement was needed, and a statement was produced.

In the first title fight of the Jaime Munguia-John Ryder undercard, IBF women’s flyweight champion Gabriela Fundora improved to 13-0 (6 KOs) with a stoppage of former amateur star Christina Cruz (now 6-1, 0 KOs) in the tenth and final round of a fight that took place in the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona.

Fundora, rated at No. 3 by The Ring at flyweight, controlled the center of the ring and the pace of the fight since the very beginning, working behind a stiff right jab from her southpaw stance and keeping Cruz at bay. Fundora’s height and wingspan made the difference in the early going, but Cruz managed to break through with some mean-intentioned combinations in the middle rounds.

However, after a few disputed rounds that seemed to give Cruz some hope of building up a surge towards the end of the bout, the final rounds were all Fundora, as the Californian unloaded on her Puerto Rican/Floridian foe with power and precision until a barrage of punches forced Cruz to go into a shell and turn her back to her foe. Referee Chris Flores made the decision to halt the bout when less than a minute of time remained in the fight.

In the broadcast opener, bantamweight contender Alan David Picasso improved to 27-0-1 (15 KOs) with a decision win over trialhorse Erik Ruiz (17-10-1, 7 KOs).

Mexico City’s Picasso painted a masterpiece early on, landing at will on Ruiz with an amazing variety of punches and even switching stances flawlessly during the early going. A possible rib injury slowed Picasso down in the middle rounds, and Ruiz took advantage of it, rocking Picasso in the sixth and appearing in the verge of a surge. It was not to be, as Picasso closed the bout strongly to get the W by scores of 99-91 and 98-92 (twice).

Earlier, Daniel Garcia remained unbeaten at 8-0 (6 KOs) with a first-round knockout over Daniel Lugo (4-2, 1 KOs) in a junior lightweight bout. Gregory Morales (16-1, 9 KOs) defeated Ronal Ron (14-5, 11 KOs) in an eight-rounder in the junior lightweight division, with scores of 80-72, 79-73, and 78-74. Gael Cabrera (4-0, 2 KOs) scored a unanimous decision in four rounds over Miguel Ceballos (2-1, 2 KOs) by scores of 40-34 and 39-35 (twice) in a bantamweight clash.

Diego M. Morilla has written for The Ring since 2013. He has also written for HBO.com, ESPN.com and many other magazines, websites, newspapers and outlets since 1993. He is a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and an elector for the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He has won two first-place awards in the BWAA’s annual writing contest, and he is the moderator of The Ring’s Women’s Ratings Panel. He served as copy editor for the second era of The Ring en Español (2018-2020) and is currently a writer and editor for RingTV.com.

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