American undisputed super featherweight champion Alycia Baumgardner added another significant win to her record, this time against Christina Linardatou, the woman who handed Baumgardner her first loss in 2018. Competing in her current hometown of Detroit, Baumgardner secured a decisive unanimous decision victory over Linardatou, with scorecards of 98-92 twice and 99-91.
While the first fight between Alycia Baumgardner (15-1, 7 KOs) and Christina Linardatou (14-3, 6 KOs) in 2018 was a closely contested match that could have gone either way, their bout on July 15th was not nearly as competitive, with Baumgardner dominating the majority, if not all, of the rounds.
Despite her best efforts, Christina Linardatou, the only female boxer to have defeated Alycia Baumgardner, was unable to overcome the pre-match predictions of her losing. Baumgardner, who had clearly made significant improvements since their 2018 encounter, applied relentless pressure and showcased her boxing skills, leading to Linardatou’s defeat.
There were few moments where Linardatou seemed to trouble Baumgardner, while Baumgardner consistently pushed her opponent to the brink of a stoppage victory. Baumgardner displayed her growth by alternating between boxing from a distance and inflicting damage on the inside, both approaches proving successful.
After 10 rounds, Baumgardner retained all her titles with a unanimous decision victory, solidifying her status as the undisputed champion of the women’s super featherweight division.
Olympic Cuban gold medalist Andy Cruz (1-0, 0 KOs) made his highly-anticipated lightweight debut on the undercard of the event and delivered an impressive performance in his professional debut against Juan Carlos Burgos (35-8-3, 21 KO’s). While Cruz easily won by unanimous decision, his performance indicates that he may be a current contender in the lightweight division, although he may not be ready for the top fighters just yet.
Burgos, known as one of the toughest fighters in the division due to never being knocked out or stopped in any of his 8 losses, demonstrated his resilience during his match against Cruz, who also failed to finish Burgos within 10 rounds. Although Cruz appeared to lack the punching power of some of the more renowned lightweight fighters, he compensated with his quickness and efficiency, leading two judges to score the fight 100-90 and one judge to score it 98-92, highlighting his dominance throughout the bout.
Promoter Eddie Hearn seems to be fast-tracking Andy Cruz, who also competed for his first title in the IBF International lightweight category, which he won after defeating Burgos. Impressively, Cruz appeared comfortable in his first 10-round fight, despite most of his amateur career consisting of a maximum of 4 rounds.
Cruz’s dominant victory over Juan Carlos Burgos provided him with an opportunity to establish himself in the division. To solidify his position in his weight class, Cruz will need to make certain improvements, including enhancing his punching power. However, the Olympic gold medalist certainly appears to be on track to reach the top of the division given the time and proper training.
