Gabriela Fundora enjoyed a successful home region debut.

The unbeaten flyweight prospect continued to proudly represent her fighting family’s name following an eight-round, unanimous decision over Mexico City’s Lucia Hernandez Nunez. All three judges scored the contest 80-72 in favor of Fundora, the younger sister of unbeaten interim junior middleweight titlist Sebastian Fundora who proudly worked his sister’s corner in the flyweight preliminary Thursday evening at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California.

Fundora—who hails from nearby Coachella—turned pro last May, with her first two bouts taking place in Carson, California. The next six came in Mexico and Panama before making her way back to the U.S. and finally in front of a hometown crowd, who provided a huge reception as she made her way to the ring.

Fundora spent the entire opening round mercilessly stalking the defensive-minded Nunez, who quickly found herself under siege. The unbeaten flyweight was urged by her father and head trainer Freddy Fundora to not spend so much time chasing down the shorter Nunez, rather plant her feet and land with conviction.

The advice resonated with the 20-year-old Fundora, who cut off the ring effectively to the point of standing firm and dropping heavy jabs and straight left hands out of the southpaw stance. Nunez was forced to contend with a welt around her left eye, never becoming a factor more so than being at a physical disadvantage against the more skilled Fundora.

Momentum remained in one direction, though Fundora appeared to grow a bit complacent through the end of the fourth round. As much was detected by her corner, who urged the 5’8” flyweight to “tee off” on the outmatched Nunez. Fundora obliged, connecting with straight shots upstairs and ripping hooks to the body.

Nunez showed heart and a sturdy chin but was simply unable to let her hands go at any point. She was urged by her corner to clinch whenever necessary and then dig deep to turn things around. That moment never came, with Fundora relentlessly working Nunez’s body in a high-volume round seven that saw the referee ready to stop the fight on several occasions.

The 32-year-old Nunez (7-13, 0KOs) was warned by the referee to not give him a reason to stop the fight as the bell sounded to begin the eighth and final round. Nunez minimized the incoming by circling the ring, tying up Fundora whenever running out of real estate and offering a high guard without throwing back anything in return.

Fundora improves to 8-0 (4KOs), enjoying a successful debut in her home region following a career-long 90-day break between fights.  

Her past six bouts have taken place outside of the U.S., including a second-round knockout of Marisol Molina Sanchez this past April 29 in Nezhualcoyotl, Mexico. It came three weeks after Fundora’s older brother Sebastian emerged in a leading Fight of the Year contender with a ninth-round stoppage of Erickson Lubin in their April 9 thriller in Las Vegas.

Headlining the show, unbeaten Jousce Gonzalez (12-0-1, 11KOs) faces Ecuador’s Jose Angulo (14-2, 7KOs) in a scheduled eight-round lightweight bout.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox