Boxing Weekend Recap For Dalton Smith, Gabriela Fundora, Sergey Kovalev & Ben Whittaker Win

Dalton Smith and Ben Whittaker got big wins in the United Kingdom, Gabriela Fundora retained her undisputed title and Sergey Kovalev ended his career with a stoppage victory.

Dalton Smith lands a left hook against Mathieu Germain. / Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing

There weren't many big names in action this past weekend, but several important bouts took place across the globe this weekend.

Former unified light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev rode into the sunset with a seventh-round stoppage victory over Artur Mann on Friday. On Saturday, junior welterweight Dalton Smith took another step toward a world title, nearly pitching a shutout against Mathieu Germain and Gabriela Fundora continued her ascension up the women's pound-for-pound ranks with a stoppage win over Marilyn Badillo.

Fundora's performance wasn't the only notable part of the Golden Boy Promotions Card in Oceanside, Calif. Ascending junior middleweight contender Charles Conwell had his momentum halted when he was upset by Jorge Garcia Perez.

On Sunday, Ben Whittaker earned the most impressive win of his career, defeating Liam Cameron by second-round stoppage, after the controversial draw from their first bout.

Here is a quick recap on how each of those fights played out.

Kovalev def. Mann by 7th-round stoppage

Kovalev entered retirement on a high note.

The former unified light heavyweight champion returned to his home country of Russia and dropped Mann two times en route to a stoppage victory. Early in the seventh round, Kovalev dropped Mann with a brutal straight right hand for the second time in the fight. Mann beat the count, but his corner stopped the fight.

Kovalev, 42, was once one of the scariest boxers in the world and the dominant force at light heavyweight at his peak. He first won the title on Aug. 17, 20213, when he went to the United Kingdom and stopped Nathan Cleverly in the fourth round. He defended his title eight times, including two stoppage victories over Jean Pascal and a shutout of Bernard Hopkins to become to unified champion.

Kovalev (35-5-1, 29 KOs) suffered the first defeat of his career with a razor-thin decision loss to Andre Ward in a fight that many believed he won. In the rematch, Ward stopped Kovalev in the eighth round.

Kovalev lost and regained a champion at light heavyweight twice more, defeating Vyacheslav Shabranskyy by second-round stoppage after his loss to Ward and avenging a knockout loss to Eleider Alvarez with a unanimous decision victory in the rematch. Kovalev's reign atop the light heavyweight division ended with an 11th-round stoppage loss to Saul "Canelo" Alvarez on Nov. 2, 2019.

Smith def. Germain by unanimous decision

Smith continued his path toward a world title shot with a dominant showing against a tough Germain. Smith dropped Germain three times in the win to retain his WBC Silver junior welterweight title.

Smith (18-0, 13 KOs) is ranked No. 1 by the WBC at junior welterweight. WBC junior welterweight champion Alberto Puello (24-0, 10 KOs) will face Subriel Matias (22-2, 22 KOs) on July 12 in New York, with Smith being well-positioned to face the winner.

On the undercard, Josh Padley's first fight under the Matchroom Boxing banner went according to plan, stopping the previously undefeated Marko Cvetanovic in the fifth round. Padley (16-1, 5 KOs) burst onto the scene when he stepped up as a late replacement to face WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson, though, he lost by ninth-round stoppage.

Fundora def. Badillo by 7th-round stoppage

Fundora's reign at flyweight is showing no signs of slowing down.

Fundora (16-0, 8 KOs) delivered another dominant performance, stopping Badillo in the seventh round to remain the undisputed flyweight champion. The towering southpaw dropped the previously undefeated Badillo along the ropes with a straight left hand late in the seventh round. Badillo (19-1-1, 3 KOs) beat the count, but referee Rudy Barragan still opted to stop the fight.

Fundora has won two straight fights by stoppage in the seventh round and became the youngest undisputed champion in boxing history in her last fight at just 22 years old. Fundora won all of the belts with a seventh-round stoppage of Gabriela Celeste Alaniz on Nov. 2.

Perez def. Conwell by split decision

Conwell was seemingly on the doorstep of a title shot in a stacked junior middleweight champion.

Now, his path to a world title shot just got a little longer.

Conwell was defeated by a split decision by Jorge Perez in the co-main event of Fundora vs. Badillo. The loss was the first of Conwell's (21-1, 16 KOs) career, while Perez (33-4, 26 KOs) extended his win streak to eight with the biggest victory of his career. The action was nip and tuck throughout, and the judges' scorecards and CompuBox stats back up how close the fight was.

Perez landed 164 of 750 punches, including 145 of 550 power shots. Conwell was a little more efficient, connecting with 166 of 701 punches and 145 of 550 power shots. Judge Lou Moret had it 115-113 in Conwell's favor, while judges Chris Migliore and Damian Walton overruled him, scoring it 115-113 for Perez.

Whittaker def. Cameron by 2nd round TKO

There wasn't as much controversy in the rematch.

Whittaker got back on track, defeating Cameron by second-round stoppage in the rematch. Their first bout on Oct. 12 in Saudi Arabia ended in a draw after an injury to Whittaker after he and Cameron went over the top rope, resulting in the fight having to go to the judges' scorecards after the fifth round.

The action was still picking up when Whitter caught and rocked Cameron with a clean straight right hand. After a flurry in the corner, referee Howard Foster stopped the fight.

With the win, Whittaker improved to 9-0-1 with 6 knockouts and became the first man to stop Cameron (23-7-1, 10 KOs) in his career.

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