By Jake Donovan

While Sergey Kovalev commaned most of the attention in town and on the dial in his three-round destruction of overmatched Nadjib Mohammedi, another major headliner took place in Las Vegas. The 12-round of action (or lack thereof) produced by Kazakhstan's Beibut Shumenov and B.J. Flores hardly left the industry abuzz, although the final scores warrant greater mention than what has taken place to date.

Shumenov walked away with a unanimous decision in their interim cruiserweight title last Saturday at Palms Resort in Las Vegas. All three judges scoring the bout 116-112 in favor of the former 175 lbs. titlist, on an NBC Sports Network televised presentation of Al Haymon's Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) series. 

Overall, the judges were in agreement on eight of the 12 rounds of action. All three judges gave Shumenov rounds 3-5 and 9-11, and unanimously agreed that Flores won rounds 6 and 12, the latter being the most clear-cut round of the fight, with Shumenov wobbled in the closing seconds.

The four rounds on which the judges disagreed essentially meant Flores—a former amateur standout based out of Arizona, who doubles as an expert analyst for NBC and NBC Sports Network (the lattter on which Saturday's fight aired)—being dealt a loss in a fight many observers felt should have landed in his favor.

BoxingScene.com scored the bout 115-113 in favor of Flores, though live from television and not ringside. NBC Sports Network's Steve Farhood scored the bout 115-113 in favor of Shumenov.

Judges Dave "Not Carl" Moretti and Patricia Morse Jarman both scored round one in favor of Flores and round two in favor of Shumenov.

Morse-Jarman and judge Steve Morrow both scrored round seven in favor of Flores and round eight in favor of Shumenov.

Moretti and Morrow were in disagreement in all four rounds (one, two, seven, eight) not scored unanimously. 

The most troubling issue in the final scores is that Shumenov essentially won by playing keepaway—which the judges would consider superior ring generalship and defense (although very few judges actually score defense, some even willing to admit as much). Flores landed more punches overall, and had a significant edge in power shots. Shumenov rarely threw with the intent to hurt, but rather to land.

Judges are trained to not interpret the severity of a punch—save for a knockdown, or a situation where the fighter on the receiving end is undeniably shaken. However, the fact that two of the three judges, for example scored round two in favor of Shumenov in a round where Flores did all of the heavy lifting is troubling. 

The same can be said for round one not being scored unamimously in favor of Flores, which along with rounds two and 12 were otherwise clear-cut rounds in his favor.

All told, Flores' worst sin of the evening should have been left at his inability to cut off the ring, which he readily admits. While the fight was the polar opposite of a Fight of the Year contender, it deserved a better fate than simply getting lost in the shuffle, regardless of whatever other events in town it went up against. 

Shumenov is now the mandatory challenger to full cruiserwight titlist Denis Lebedev. Nothing that took place on Saturday evening—or honestly at any point in his career, and having only recently moved up to cruiserweight—suggests an upset brewing if and when that fight takes place.

Flores will likely find in-ring work as long as he shows patience in whatever Haymon (who also advises Shumenov) has in store for his future. For now, however, it will come on the heels of a loss he didn't necessarily deserve, along with the silence that came in the aftermath.

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox