Shumenov Retains WBA Light Heavy Belt Against Ornelas

ByBoxing Press

WBA and IBA Light Heavyweight Champion Beibut Shumenov (13-1, 8 KO’s) battered a game Enrique Ornelas (33-87, 21 KO’s) from the opening bell Saturday night en route to dominant victory by unanimous decision at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Shumenov revealed after the fight that he had injured his right forearm 10 days ago during a sparring session. It didn’t prevent him, however, from pitching a complete shutout, winning each round on all three judges’ scorecards in the 12-round main event. Shumenov was the aggressor, throwing hard rights to the head and body, especially effective were his well timed uppercuts.

Ornelas was unable to counter Shumenov, who threw powerful combinations and then avoided Ornelas’ late counters. Shumenov, a 2008 Kazakhstan Olympian, lives in Las Vegas and his fourth successful title defense was at the same venue in which he first captured the WBA crown.

“I trained very hard because I knew he (Ornelas) is very tough,” Shuenov said after the fight. “His defense was very good. I wasn’t able to show my best because of the arm injury I suffered. I’m happy with the win.”

Shumenov’s advisor, Hall of Fame promoter Don Chargin, said that he will sit down next week with Shumenov to discuss his next fight. “We have three great offers from Kessler, Hopkins and Cleverly,” Chargin noted.

Shumenov vs. Ornelas was promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and KZ Event Productions and sponsored by Corona and DeWalt Tools. The Fox Sports Net and Fox Deportes bilingual simulcast aired live and Fuel TV will rebroadcast the fight on Sunday, July 1, at 12:00 p.m. ET/9:00 a.m. PT.

Welterweight prospect Joseph Elegele (13-1, 10 KO’s), fighting out of Winter Haven, Florida, floored Philadelphia boxer Lanard Lane (13-2, 8 KO’s) once in a hotly contested win by majority decision (77-74, 76-75, 78-76) in a spirited eight round co-main event.

Undefeated Ravshan Hudaynazarov, fighting out of Las Vegas, improved his record to 16-0 (12 KO’s) by convincingly defeating WBO Latino welterweight champion Euri Gonzalez (20-2-1, 14 KO’s), whose only other loss was to WBC Super Welterweight Champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, by unanimous decision in an eight-round junior middleweight bout.

All three ringside judges scored in Hudaynazarov’s favor with tallies of 79-73. Hudaynazarov is the reigning WBA Fedelatin welterweight champion and world rated No. 15 by the WBA. The former Uzbekistan amateur boxing standout and KZ Event Productions promoted rising star celebrated his 28th birthday last night.

Promising middleweight Daquan Arnett (4-0, 2 KO’s) of Orlando, Florida, remained unbeaten with a unanimous four-round decision over a game Yosmani Abreu (2-3-1) in a four round fight.

California featherweight Johnny Reyes (1-0, 1 KO), from Lancaster, Calif., won a four round decision from Uriel Torres, who was making his pro debut in a four round fight.