Saturday Undercard Results from Riyadh Season PPV at BMO Stadium

The first Riyadh Season card in the US this past Saturday at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles was a long, 8-hour affair that had some noteworthy highs and a few flat-line performances, capped off by Terence Crawford topping Israil Madrimov via unanimous decision to become junior middleweight champ.

Here’s a look at the 6-bout pay-per-view undercard.

Andy Cruz KO 7 Antonio Moran

Cuban lightweight prospect Andy Cruz (4-0, 2 KOs) came into Saturday’s bout acting and fighting like a next big thing, but was humbled at the end of the fourth rund when his tough Mexican foe, Antonio Moran (30-7-1, 21 KOs), stunned him with a cuffing left hook. Cruz would recover and re-take control of the bout, eventually ending the contest in the seventh round with a right hand that wobbled Moran and forced a referee stoppage.

David Morrell UD 12 Radivoje Kalajdzic

Cuba’s David Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) fought like the massive favorite he was against an opponent in
Radivoje Kalajdzic (29-3, 21 KOs) who didn’t seem to be doing much of anything in the first few rounds. Over time, though, Kalajdzic came on and offered some stiff resistance to Morrell, whose offense looked to be too predictable. With the contest getting tight, time ran out on the underdog and Morrell would get by with a much closer decision victory than the official scorecard tallies of 117-111, 118-110, and 117-111. With the win, Morrell picked up the vacant WBA light heavyweight title.

Martin Bakole TKO 5 Jared Anderson

Martin Bakole (21-1, 16 KOs) registered the first shocker of the evening by stopping well-regarded rising heavyweight star Jared Anderson (17-1, 15 KOs). Although Bakole, hailing from the Congo, by way of Scotland, was only a slight underdog coming into the contest, his dominance of Anderson was a true surprise. The 32-year-old Bakole would drop 24-year-old Anderson hard with an uppercut in the first after seemingly giving away the majority of the round. The American would beat the count, but he was never really in the fight after that. Two hard knockdowns in the fifth, initiated by another uppercut, led to the referee stoppage and the, at least temporary, end of Anderson’s run as a top American heavyweight prospect.

Andy Ruiz MD 12 Jarrell Miller

This heavyweight contest between fighters looking to rebuild a name for themselves on the boxing main stage featured an almost reversal in roles. For the majority of this bout, Jarrell Miller (26-1-2, 22 KOs) looked to be the better, sharper boxer while Andy Ruiz (35-2-1, 22 KOs) was the plodder looking for a big shot to turn the tide. The 36-year-old Miller, coming in at his lowest weight since 2018 (305.5 lbs), had better stamina and fought with greater focus throughout the encounter. The 34-year-old Ruiz weighed in 21 lbs. lighter than his opponent, but looked to be struggling with his stamina. The judges’ scorecards of 114-114, 114-114, 116-112 were widely panned as most thought Miller deserved the nod.

Jose Valenzuela SD 12 Isaac Cruz

Isaac Cruz (26-3-1, 18 KOs) came into his first WBA junior welterweight title defense on Saturday as the card’s secondary star, behind Terence Crawford. His underdog opponent Jose Valenzuela (14-2, 9 KOs), however, refused to play the role of main stage fall guy. The taller, more stylistically diverse Valenzuela would box well from the outside, keeping a hard-charging “Pitbull” from digging in to engage in the kind of phone booth war he needs to wear opposition down. “El Rayo” kept his focus over the long haul and managed to do enough to take the victory– and the belt– by scores of 116-112, 116-112, and 113-115.