Beibut Shumenov scores unanimous decision win against BJ Flores
It lacked consistent action, it lacked big shots, and in the end it failed to provide the kind of excitement that Premier Boxing Champions fights have come to be known for in the fledgling group's foray into free TV.
This one aired on the NBC Sports Network. It could have been titled "Dancing with the B-Stars."
But it was a unanimous decision victory nonetheless for Beibut Shumenov, who outpointed BJ Flores, and took ownership of the interim WBA cruiserweight title Saturday night at the Palms Casino and Resort in Las Vegas.
Shumenov (16-2, 10 KOs), a Kazakhstani now living in Las Vegas, danced around the ring much of the night, avoiding much of what Flores tried to throw, and impressed the judges enough with that style to win 116-112 on each of their scorecards.
Shumenov was fighting for the second time under renowned former Cuban national coach Ismael Salas. Though he was outlanded in power punches by 84-62, Shumenov showed enough boxing skills to get the edge over Flores, who chased Shumenov around the right for 12 rounds.
"It was, like I knew, B.J.'s a cruiserweight, and has fought at cruiserweight a long time," said Shumenov, fighting at the weight for the second time since moving up from light-heavyweight. "I knew it would be a very close, great fight. People saw that I scored more points. He was lunging, he was looking for a knockout. Big shots only. I fought a smart fight, scored points, and I did enough to win the fight."
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A disappointed Flores (31-2-1, 20 KOs), who has been a ringside analyst for NBC for each of its PBC fights this year, was not convinced that Shumenov did enough to win. He staggered Shumenov with a right hand late in the 12th round, but it was too late to make a difference.
"I put a lot of effort into my performance tonight," Flores said. "Beibut always comes forward, he's always aggressive, he's a very tough, strong fighter. Tonight he ran the whole night. It's just tough to win a fight when you're going backwards the whole night, in my opinion. He's a great fighter, he's very good, but come on, with the punch in the last round that hurt him, my punches affected him. And he was just touching me. I'm disappointed, but hopefully they'll have me on very soon and give me another shot."
Shumenov, who lost to Bernard Hopkins in his last fight at light heavyweight in April 2014 and won his only previous cruiserweight fight by stoppage, credited his trainer Salas for giving him the winning gameplan.
"It's still a learning process, but Ismael is the best trainer in the world," Shumenov said. "Every time I go to the gym I learn something new. I feel like I just started boxing.
"Boxing is not a gladiator match. Boxing is an art. You use your position, you use your angles, you use your footwork to score the points and win the fight. You don't have to go for kill or be killed."
Flores, the boxing analyst, saw it very differently.
"If he would've stood there and fought, I don't think it would have gone 6 rounds," he said. "He wasn't trying to engage. You have to fight to win the fight. So when you move around all night, I don't know how you win.
"I'm trying to land power shots, but you gotta have a dance partner."
On the undercard, in a battle of undefeated cruiserweights, Isiah Thomas of Detroit outpointed Jordan Shimmell by unanimous decision. Thomas improved to 15-0 (6 KOs), while Shimmell fell to 19-1 (16 KOs).
Shimmel landed 60 power punches to Thomas' 43 and threw 35 more than the winner.
"I think I could have threw a little more punches," Thomas said. "I'm coming off a layoff, working the rust out, but overall, even though I could have threw more punches, I'm proud of my performance. I thought it was a real close fight. Jordan Shimmell he's a great fighter, and he came with his A-plan and it was a close fight."
Said Shimmell: "I thought the fight was closer than what it was scored, but I'm all right. I'll come back."