By Allan Fox: Gabriel Flores Jr put on a left hook clinic in beating his badly over-matched opponent Josec Ruiz by a one-sided 10 round unanimous decision on Thursday night at The Bubble at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The fight was shown on ESPN.
(Photo Credit: Mikey Williams/ Top Rank)
Ruiz had some success in the opening rounds when he caught Flores Jr with several heavy right hands that got his attention. Flores had started the round strong, looking to score a fast knockout against his overmatched opponent. But after getting walloped by Ruiz, Flores got on his bike spent the remainder of the round.
The scores were 100-89, 100-89, and 100-89. Boxing News 24 scored it 100-89. The closest round Ruiz came to winning was the 10th, and that was because Flores Jr ran and held the entire time.
Flores Jr threw mostly left hooks
Rather than finish strong, the Stockton, California native ran out the clock. It was lucky for Flores that there wasn’t a crowd present, as he might have been booed for the way he spoiled his way to the final bell.
There was a lot to like and dislike in watching the young 20-year-old Flores Jr (18-0, 6 KOs) defeat a VERY limited looking Ruiz (21-3-3, 14 KOs), who had the much superior power, but he lacked the skills to use it. Ruiz did land occasionally big shots in taking advantage of Flores pulling away with his hands down.
Flores landed 101 of 359 shots for a 28% connect rate, according to CompuBox. Ruiz’s percentage was lower at 14 in landing 56 of 401 punches.
Flores was throwing wide hooks 80% of the time, and Ruiz figured him out and was able to catch him w shot. A good fighter would have made adjustments to block the repeated left hooks from Flores and hit him counters.
Ruiz wasn’t talented enough to adjust. If Flores attempted to beat A-level guy throwing left hooks all night, he would run into trouble early on and likely get knocked out. Flores’ team needs to work on developing his game so that he’s not so one-dimensional and predictable.
Gabriel wants a world title shot in 12 months
“He was a tough guy, but he was not on my level,” said Flores about Ruiz. “I see a world title in the next 12 months. That’s my goal, but we have to see what’s out there first. I’m training in Vegas now, and the sparring and training out here have helped elevate my game.”
Flores isn’t saying which champion at 135 he would be targeting for a world title in the next 12 months. Vasily Lomachenko currently holds three of the four belts. If Lomachenko beats IBF champion, Teofimo Lopez, later this year, he’ll hold all four.
Gervonta Davis is the WBA secondary lightweight champion, and Devin holds the WBC regular belt. Flores would likely lose to all of those champions right now. Yeah, Flores can fight for a world title, but he’ll have it tough if the current champions to hold the titles.
It’s hard to predict where Lomachenko will be 12 months from now. He’s talked about vacating all his 135-lb titles and moving back down to 130 if he’s successful in his unification fight against Teofimo.
If all the titles are freed up by Lomachenko, then that would give Flores his best chance of winning a title depending on who he faces for the straps. But right now, it’s hard to picture Flores beating any of the champions in the lightweight division, given his lack of power and inability to fight from the pocket.
Ruiz down in round two
Flores dropped Ruiz in the second round with a right hand to the head. He first hurt Ruiz with a left hook that staggered him. Flores then followed up with another left hook and then a right hand that put Ruiz down.
After Ruiz got back to his feet, Flores tried to finish him, but he got tagged by a right hand and backed off. That one situation a reflection of what we saw from Flores the entire fight. Flores Jr would land a good shot, and then back instead of following up.
The 20-year-old Top Rank promoted Flores Jr looked uncomfortable with fighting in the pocket and displayed no willingness to go after Ruiz after he would land a big shot.
Another annoying thing that we saw from Flores was his tendency to look at the referee and hold the back of his head whenever one of Ruiz’s looping shots would connect to the rear of his head. Flores Jr was grabbing the back of his head almost every round, and he looked like he was trying to get the referee to step in take points from Ruiz.
The thing is, Ruiz wasn’t landing a lot of shots to the back of Flores’ head. It was just an occasional shot, and the reason they were landing there is that Flores was moving nonstop around the ring. He showed no willingness to stand his ground in the fight.
Flores wouldn’t stand and fight
All in all, Flores Jr did an excellent job of dominating a slow guy that was looking for one punch the entire fight. Ruiz wasn’t capable of throwing more combinations. What’s interesting is that when Ruiz did press Flores Jr at times in the match, he had the 20-year-old looking timid and vulnerable.
Flores did not handle the pressure well when Ruiz came at him sharply. Fortunately for Flores Jr, Ruiz rarely aggressively attacked him.
The lack of power that Flores showed during the fight is worrisome. He does not have any power to speak of in his punches, and he’s going to have massive problems if he ever shares the ring with the hard punchers in the division.
Flores doesn’t appear to be at the same level talent-wise as these lightweights: Vasily Lomachenko, Teofimo Lopez, Ryan Garcia, and Devin Haney. There are half a dozen other 135-pounders that this writer would pick to beat Flores.
You can’t blame Flores’ problems just his age. Haney and Ryan Garcia are just a little bit older than Flores at 22 and 21, respectively, and they’re a lot more advanced. The flaws in Flores’ game we saw tonight are things that likely won’t disappear with time, unfortunately.
He doesn’t look like he has the mental toughness to stand in the pocket, and his reactions to getting hit were disturbing. Flores would freeze for a fraction of a second after getting hit, which made it seem like he was getting hurt.
Flores came into the fight as a highly rated prospect, but he showed massive holes in his game that makes one question whether he’ll go far in the sport.
A vast gulf separates Flores Jr from the best lightweights
Developmentally, Flores trails other younger fighters like Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney, and it’s going to be tough for him to catch up with them without punching power and a willingness to stand and fight.
Flores didn’t show a warrior’s mentality tonight, and that’s going to be a problem for him heading into the future. Above all, a fighter has got to be a warrior, not a runner. Flores was a runner tonight.
It’ll be interesting to see how far Flores Jr will be able to progress fighting with his style. At 135, he’s going to have problems if he can’t develop his power and stay in the pocket. Flores Jr is not going to be able to run his way to victory over the likes of Vasiliy Lomachenko and Gervonta Davis.
Those guys will cut off the ring on Flores Jr and take him apart. It won’t be hard for those fighters to solve Flores’ style, which involves him throwing left hooks and not much else.
Flores’ fighting style is going to make it tough for him to build a big fan base. He’s got to be able to mix it up with his opponents if he wants to become popular, and right now, he’s risk-averse.
Flores’ bad habit of moving all night, and not stopping for more than a second to throw a punch. It was frustrating to the extreme to watch the movement from Flores because he showed no desire to stand and exchange.
Past movers like Floyd Mayweather Jr were still willing to stand in the pocket and fight, but Flores Jr isn’t that type of guy.
Clay Collard defeats David Kaminsky
In a surprise upset, super middleweight Clay Collard defeated the favorite David Kaminsky (6-1, 3 KOs) by a six-round split decision. The fight looked like a bloodbath, as the 19-year-old Kaminsky was cut over his right eye in the first round and was forced to battle with the bleeding wound the rest of the way.
The scores were 58-56, 58-56 for Collard, and 58-56 for Kaminsky. Boxing News 24 had Collard winning a clear decision by a 58-56 score.
It might have been a little early for Top Rank to be having the young Kaminsky, who wasn’t blessed with a great amateur background, taking on the much older 27-year-old Collard.
This isn’t the first time that the unheralded Collard has pulled off an upset. In Collard’s two previous fights, he beat unbeaten prospects.
Raymond Guajardo and Quashawn Toler. At this point, it’s time for the promoters to start rating Collard as a good fighter.
Other results on the card:
- Victor Rodriguez UD 4 Justin Horsley
- Frevian Gonzalez UD 4 Jose Martinez
- Robert Rodriguez TKO 2 Adrian Servin