Bryan Flores overcame a first round knockdown to outhustle Shinard Bunch to win a split decision Friday night, April 7 at Cache Creek Casino in Brooks, Calif. One judge scored the fight in favor of Bunch, 96-93, but was overruled by the other two, who scored it 97-92 and 95-94, all for Flores, who registered his biggest win to date in the main event of the ShoBox: The New Generation.

The loss is the first for the 23-year-old Bunch (20-2-1, 16 knockouts) since his third bout, and comes at a time when the Trenton, N.J. resident was on the cusp of title contention at 140 pounds. Flores (24-0-1, 13 KOs) of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico also had an early blemish, a four round draw in his fifth bout, but made up any lost ground with this win.

“The difference in the fight was I’m Mexican with a Mexican heart and I train with Ismael Salas. That’s why I won,” said Flores.

The fight looked like it could come to an early finish in the first round, when a right uppercut followed by a left hook put Flores on the floor. Bunch held the technical advantage early on, controlling Flores with his jab as he struggled to turn the lights back on.

Just how did Bryan Flores turn it around? 🤔

After being knocked down in the first, Flores hustled his way to a split-decision win over Bunch 😤#BunchFlores | #ShoBox pic.twitter.com/bltXnQHeqY

— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) April 8, 2023

The fight began to turn in the fifth and sixth rounds, as Flores turned up the aggression and forced Bunch to the ropes with overhand rights. Once the engine shut down, Bunch never stepped back on the gas, as Bunch looked to hold and smother Flores’ aggression while offering few punches in return.

Flores repeatedly pushed Bunch back to the ropes, and took advantage in the eighth round to land four hooks to the body when Bunch had his arms tied up in the ropes. Flores continued to press forward to the final bell, while Bunch struggled to offer a final statement.

There was very little to separate the two in the final punch stats, with Bunch throwing slightly more punches, landing 104 of 411 attempts compared to 103 connects in 398 attempts from Flores. Flores landed far more body punches, connecting with 44 to just 9 from Bunch.

The fight was the second straight shaky outing for Bunch, who was knocked down last December in a unanimous decision win over a faded Henry Lundy.

Schramm outhustles Brown, Terry-Garcia ends in draw

Guido Schramm looked to be technically overmatched against Jahyae Brown early on, but his stamina and aggression turned the fight around in the second half and earned him a majority decision.

Schramm (16-1-1, 9 KOs) of Buenos Aires, Argentina won the fight on two scorecards, 98-92 and 97-93, while the third had the junior middleweight bout even at 95-95.

“That was pretty much how we expected it to go. I’m too strong for him,” said Schramm. “I can’t wait to be back and show more of my skills. I felt good in there. My conditioning and my strength made all the difference. I give myself about a seven out of 10. I made some mistakes, but I did lots of things well and we got the win.”

Guido Schramm is powering up 🔋

Schramm is trying to turn the tide through round 7️⃣#BrownSchramm | #ShoBox pic.twitter.com/mP2rHzGfLB

— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) April 8, 2023

Early on, Brown of Schenectady, N.Y. looked to be too big a leap up in competition for Schramm as he effortlessly picked off and countered the crude Schramm uppercuts and check hooks. Though he took the fight on just two weeks notice, Brown was fresh off a unanimous decision win over Denis Okoth just a month ago, and that manifested in his timing.

The fight turned around in a big way in the sixth, as Schramm bulled through with left hooks to the body and straight rights to the solar plexus, which he used to set up uppercuts between the guard. Brown spent most of the second half of the fight, and was hurt in the ninth round by a right hand. The doctor came in to the corner to examine Brown after the ninth, and allowed it to continue to the final bell.

Brown took more punishment but was able to last the distance.

“No question, I lost,” Brown said. “I thought he should have gotten a unanimous decision. The mistake I made was trying to brawl with him. I would box him if I could do the fight over again. I got pulled into his fight. I hit him with some good shots, but nothing happened. He’s very strong. I’m going back to the drawing board and I’ll be back better than ever.”

Schramm, who is four years older than Brown, has now won three straight since his only pro loss to Cristian Javier Ayala in March of 2022.

Robert Terry lands a left hook. Photo by Dave Mandel/SHOWTIME

Unbeaten junior middleweights Robert Terry and Raul Garcia fought to an eight-round draw in the broadcast opener. Each fighter earned a score of 77-75 in their favor, while the third judge had it even at 76-76.

The bout was a tale of two fights, as Terry (9-0-1, 3 knockouts) of Jersey City, N.J. controlled the early rounds with his technical superiority, and Garcia (12-0-1, 9 KOs) of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic outworking Terry in the second half of the fight.

Terry made the first impression in the fight, landing counter hooks on the powerful but wild Garcia in the second round. Terry landed his best punch in the fourth round, stunning Garcia with a right hand to the head.

What a scrap 😤

After eight back-and-forth rounds, #GarciaTerry is deemed a draw by the judges.#ShoBox pic.twitter.com/c0CUU3AVns

— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) April 8, 2023

Garcia was cut under his right eye in the fifth but rallied to hurt Terry to the body with punches that turned the bout around. Terry, who had never fought past six rounds, slowed down significantly in the second half of the fight, with his thudding power being limited to arm punches.

Punch stats showed Garcia throw more punches, 455 to 309, but Terry being more accurate, landing just one fewer punch, 91 to the 92 Garcia was credited with.

“I thought I won. I outworked him up and down,” said Garcia. I threw more jabs and landed the harder shots throughout. I was a little stunned at one point, but I recovered quickly. I had him hurt at one point too.”

“I feel good, but I really wanted the win. I didn’t come here to get a draw, so I’m pretty disappointed,” said Terry.

“I thought I won six rounds of the fight. I had him hurt. I probably should have finished him, but I figured I would take my time. I let him off the hook and I shouldn’t have. I won the fight, but the judges didn’t think so. What can you do?”

Ryan Songalia has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler and The Guardian, and is part of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism Class of 2020. He can be reached at [email protected].