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INGLEWOOD, California – First-time world title challenger Gabriela Fundora demonstrated she was more than ready to prove her promise, dominating four-time champion Arely Mucino en route to a fifth-round stoppage victory to claim the IBF flyweight crown.
The 21-year-old Fundora dropped and badly hurt Mucino twice in the fifth, prompting Mucino’s corner to throw in the towel at the 1:18 mark of the round.
The southpaw Fundora (12-0, 5 KOs) – nicknamed “Sweet Poison” – struck with venom and clocked Mucino (32-4-2, 11 KOs) with a left hook 30 seconds into the fifth round, and Mucino never recovered.
Mucino had unsteady legs as referee Jack Reiss counted. When Reiss allowed the action to continue, Fundora connected with another combination, forcing Reiss to call for a standing eight count. But by that point, Mucino’s corner had already thrown in the towel.
The 5-foot-9 Fundora sported a six-inch height advantage and used her size to dictate the terms of the fight, leverage long-range power to pick and pop her power punches as she pleased.
The 34-year-old, 15-year professional Mucino couldn’t lean on her experience to disrupt Fundora’s fiery pressure, as she barely mustered much offense because she had a hard time getting inside.
Fundora's one-sided beatdown was further proven by CompuBox's punch stats, as she outlanded Mucino 136-31 in less than 10 minutes.
The scrap got off to a ferocious start, with Fundora flying out of her corner and throwing haymakers. By the end of the first round, Fundora had Mucino cornered and was teeing off.
The first round set the tone for the rest of the night for the standout from Coachella, California, and the younger sister of former interim WBC junior middleweight titlist Sebastian Fundora.
Mucino (32-3-2, 11 KOs), from Monterrey, Mexico, failed to make her first title defense of her fourth championship reign. Mucino was coming off a 10-round points win over then-unbeaten titlist Leonela Paola Yudica last year.
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer, and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com, or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.
