Premier Boxing Champions 2015: Winners, Results for Shumenov vs. Flores Card

Beibut Shumenov's (16-2, 10 KOs) move to the cruiserweight ranks has proved fortuitous, as the Kazakhstan-born fighter boxed his way to a 12-round, unanimous decision win over B.J. Flores (31-2-1, 20 KOs) on Saturday evening to capture the interim WBA World cruiserweight title at the Palms Casino Resort's Pearl Theater in Las Vegas.

BoxingScene.com's Jake Donovan relayed the scores:

"

116-112 x3 - Beibut Shumenov UD12 BJ Flores. Crowd fine with it. BJ threatening to Twitter-block everyone in attendance and the three judges

— Jake Donovan (@JakeNDaBox) July 26, 2015"

Shumenov moved to the cruiserweight division after Bernard Hopkins picked him apart and handed him a loss in a light heavyweight unification title match in April 2014.

Usually willing to stand and deliver, Shumenov opted for a defensive, escapist strategy against Flores, a Premier Boxing Champions analyst who traded in the mic for gloves for the first time in nearly 10 months to take on this opportunity. 

Here's a look at the night's televised results, followed by recaps for each bout.

Weight Class	Matchup	Result (Round)
Cruiserweight	Andrew Tabiti vs. Roberto Santos	Tabiti, UD (8)
Super featherweight	Claudio Marrero vs. Rico Ramos	Marrero, KO (3)
Cruiserweight	Jordan Shimmell vs. Isiah Thomas	Thomas, UD (10)
Cruiserweight	Beibut Shumenov vs. B.J. Flores	Shumenov, UD (12)

Shumenov vs. Flores

From the start, Shumenov wanted to play chess, in the hopes of clearing the board with his devastating right hand. The Kazakh fighter dangled his left arm out in front of Flores like catnip, doubling up on the jab before winding up with his right, while making sure to stay out of his opponent's range for the most part.

Flores didn't take the bait much in the first two rounds, and a couple of powerful overhand rights had him in a good position early. The 36-year-old Flores was aggressive early on, a bit too much so when the ref warned him for rabbit punching late in the second.

Shumenov started the third round brightly, catching Flores off guard with a quick flurry of punches. Using every inch of the ring, Shumenov had time to switch up more than the tempo, per Boxing360:

Despite owning a five-inch reach advantage and landing some stinging combos early on, Flores struggled to connect as the fight neared its midway point. Shumenov still had no interest in planting his feet.

ESPN's Brian Campbell noted Shumenov's strategy had become decidedly one-note:

USA Today's Bob Velin was looking for the fight to change tune after six:

Shumenov slowed a bit in the seventh. He boasts a granite right hand, but rather than throwing it when a good opportunity presented itself, he appeared to be waiting for a perfect one. Flores found the range in the seventh, landing a few good shots to the body and looking reassured after a few frustrating rounds.

Shumenov picked up the pace a bit starting in the ninth round, tossing in a few more combinations and using less of the ring. This might've been the the type of fight Flores could've controlled earlier on with his superior reach, but he too was running out of steam. 

Bleacher Report's Kevin McRae felt Shumenov was in control late on, despite the paucity of punching:

BoxBet's Tom Craze couldn't call it for either fighter: 

Shumenov took the unanimous decision win over Flores, who should've done more to engage the wiley boxer. It's a fine result for Shumenov in only his second cruiserweight bout and second with Cuban trainer Ismael Salas.

"Ismael is the coach I dreamed of finding," Shumenov told ESPN's Dan Rafael before the bout, suggesting this might be the beginning of a long relationship. He has a title to defend now, and it will be interesting to see how he handles a more aggressive challenger in the future.

Shimmell vs. Thomas

In a matchup of two undefeated up-and-comers in the cruiserweight division sporting contrasting boxing styles, it was Isiah "The Piston" Thomas (15-0, 5 KOs) who took the vacant USBA cruiserweight title with a unanimous decision win over Jordan Shimmell (19-1, 16 KOs).

Thomas' survivalist methods stymied Shimmell's hard-punching ways for the majority of their 10-round bout.

Shimmell pushed the action in the first couple of rounds, walking Thomas—a Detroit native, if you couldn't tell by the nickname—down and making inroads with a solid jab. Thomas, wary of Shimmell's heavy hands, hugged and clinched to survive on the ropes, doing well to limit the damage and keep his opponent from getting into a rhythm.

Shimmell struggled to find an opening against his slippery southpaw opponent. A growing cut over his left eye was evidence of Thomas exerting control over the bout after a tepid first three rounds.

Thomas' movement proved difficult for Shimmell to follow, and the latter boxer slowed in the late rounds after taking some solid body punches early on. Thomas didn't come out of the fifth unscathed, as this tweet from PBC shows:

In 19 professional bouts coming into Saturday night, Shimmell had only seen the seventh round or later twice. The inexperience showed, as Shimmell's form went raggedy, and Thomas was content to bounce around the ring and show defensive jabs when the two got close.

The Piston's overall reluctance to let his hands go kept the result from being a foregone conclusion, but the judges' scores reflected appreciation for his defensive skill. Thomas stayed pretty and won the bout.

It's back to the drawing board for Shimmell. Thomas refused to go toe-to-toe with the Wisconsin-born brawler, exposing Shimmell's lack of creativity in the early rounds and lack of stamina later on. Thomas can keep a clean record for some time in the cruiserweight division with his tactics, but he runs the risk of losing the close ones without some more counterpunching in his repertoire.

Marrero vs. Ramos

It was obvious from the start that super featherweight Claudio "The Matrix" Marrero (19-1, 14 KOs) was up to no good against Rico Ramos (24-5, 12 KOs). After two rounds of tricks and quirky movement designed to fluster his opponent, the southpaw took Ramos' brain offline with a crushing left hook to the skull, earning a third-round knockout win to pad his already sterling record. 

Boxing promoter Lou DiBella was greatly impressed with the knockout blow:

Marrero looked supremely confident early on, displaying all kinds of little feints, jabs and interesting stances designed to frustrate Ramos.

Ramos, a former WBA and WBO beltholder, took the bait early on but struggled to connect with anything signficant in the first two rounds.

These points became academic quickly, as twenty seconds into the third round Marrero hypnotized Ramos with a few hand rolls and then snapped him out of it with a winding left hook that landed flush on the California man's chin. 

Marrero's a confident dude, and he proved on Saturday he has the goods to back it up. Look out for this one.

Tabiti vs. Santos

Roberto Santos' (12-2, 5 KOs) first fight outside of his native Mexico could hardly be called a success, but he did accomplish something that 10 other boxers before had failed to do: make it to the final bell against rising cruiserweight boxer Andrew Tabiti (11-0, 10 KOs).

Tabiti won a lopsided unanimous decision after eight rounds against Santos, a short, portly boxer who looked like a no-chancer in the ring alongside the muscular Tabiti.

This is how BoxingScene's David Greisman characterized Santos:

Santos was slow and inactive early on. The power he did pack served as little deterrent to a confident Tabiti. What he did appear to have was a resolute attitude and willingness to engage his taller, quicker and more agile opponent.

Tabiti teed off on his head for much of the fight with a sharp jab, following those with crisp right hooks that landed square. The 25-year-old American was clearly the better boxer, but there was no bullying Santos, who kept on the front foot as much as possible. Middleweight champ Sergio Mora liked what he saw from Tabiti:

Tabiti actually did some of his best work with his back to the ropes in the fourth. He did well to parry Santos' punches and string together combinations that rather easily broke through Santos' defense. And yet, there the pugnacious Mexican boxer was, flashing a crooked smile out of a face mashed to pulp and daring Tabiti to come forward. 

The fight continued in the same, almost perfunctory vein for the final few rounds, with Tabiti—boxing with the conviction one might expect of a guy training under Floyd Mayweather Sr.—earning a well-deserved unanimous decision on the cards. He needs to fight a better class of boxer in his next bout to continue to build credibility, even if the next guy doesn't have the heart of Santos.