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Navarrete Breaks Down Nunez to Unify WBO and IBF Super Featherweight Titles
A Mexican battle between super featherweight world champions saw Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete use his familiar windmill offense to brutalize Eduardo “Sugar” Nunez and add the IBF title to his own WBO version on Saturday night.
“It’s a dream to be here and see me unify. And thanks to Sugar Nunez for this opportunity,” said Navarrete. “He is Mexican warrior too.”
It was a night where experience proved to be more valuable than youth and strength.
Mexico City’s Navarrete (40-2-1, 33 KOs) expected an immediate Mexican war but instead found Los Mochis Nunez (29-2, 27 KOs) using lateral movement to remain on the outside early in the fight at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. It didn’t matter as Navarrete swept all four rounds.
Finally, the muscular and powerful looking Nunez decided to stand his ground and slug it out in the fifth and the battle was truly on. Nunez unleashed four consecutive rights while Navarrete snuck a right uppercut and left hook that belted his Mexican rival. Suddenly the battle was ignited.
Navarrete used his long arms at distance to score and in close he whipped uppercuts and concise lefts and rights that always seemed to connect. Nunez never wavered from the exchanges but was being out-hit. Both fighters violently exchanged and at the sound of the bell would touch gloves in respect.
Fans at the arena were enjoying the Mexican display of brutal punching and the two fighters willingness to slug it out. Neither fighter showed fear or shyness in exchanging. Navarrete kept proving his experience in world title fights was beneficial with scoring shots.
Nunez tried charging in but was met with uppercuts and though he never went down his face was beginning to swell and his right eye was closed by the ninth round. Though the ringside physician was asked to examine Nunez, the fight resumed.
Navarrete showed no mercy though he scored easily with left hooks. Fans and even Mexican great Julio Cesar Chavez sitting ringside yelled for the referee to stop the fight. The referee and Nunez corner let the fight continue. At the end of the 10th round people screamed for someone to stop the fight. Even promoter Eddie Hearn asked for the fight to be stopped. Finally, the ringside physician motioned the fight be stopped one second into the 11th round for a technical knockout victory for Navarrete.
“This is our sport. You have to continue to work hard. You never know what’s going to happen in those last rounds,” said Navarrete.
Nunez said he was not surprised by Navarrete’s performance.
“Nothing surprised me. I knew he was the strongest fighter I have faced,” said Nunez.
Navarrete’s experienced proved too overwhelming to overcome.
Other Bouts
Emiliano Vargas (17-0, 14 KOs) endured his toughest test and it came against Argentina’s very cagey and tough Agustin Quintana (22-3-1, 13 KOs) and won by stoppage after a give and take battle over nine rounds.
Vargas showed immediately his defensive skill and quickness with timely combinations that strafed Quintana early in the match. But the Argentine fighter displayed the ability to counter with effective rights. That proved telling.
Though Vargas was winning, Quintana was taking his pound of flesh with perfect counters every time Vargas got greedy with combinations. Then, Quintana began to attack the body and that bothered Vargas who then re-targeted the body and that seemed to turn things back in his favor.
Vargas took control in the seventh, eighth and ninth rounds with combination punching and when clinched by Quintana that resulted in accidental butts by Vargas that opened up cuts on both of the Argentine’s eyes. At the end of the ninth round, referee Raul Caiz Jr. walked over, examined Quintana and stopped the fight.
“He is a hell of a fighter,” Vargas said.
It was a tough win but great learning lesson for Vargas, the son of the great Fernando Vargas.
“I just want to keep on learning. I got caught with a couple of things that I shouldn’t have been caught with,” said Vargas. “I’m going to continue to grow, continue to learn; I want to be world champion.”
Ramos wins
Arizona’s Able Ramos (29-6-3, 22 KOs) proved the value of experience in handing Philadelphia’s Tahmir Smalls (16-1, 11 KOs) his first loss with steady body attacks and unorthodox punch sequences to win by split decision in their welterweight clash.
Smalls jumped ahead quickly in the first two rounds with a long jab and the threat of his potent right cross cocked and loaded. Ramos stayed composed, then slowly targeted the body with lefts and rights. By the fifth round those body blows began to slow Smalls’s reflexes and power.
Ramos took charge in the last four rounds with a consistent body attack and by connecting with overhand rights. Smalls was wobbled in the ninth round and Ramos took his time in targeting the body again. Body shots were the staple of Ramos and they paid off against Smalls who tired visibly in the final two rounds.
After 10 rounds one judge saw Smalls the winner 96-94, two other judges saw Ramos 98-92, 97-93.
Super Bantams
A battle between undefeated super bantams saw hometown favorite Jordan Martinez (16-0-1, 15 KOs) bolt out of his corner to take the first two rounds with an effective attack against Mexico’s Arturo Cardenas (18-0-2, 9 KOs). The fight ended in a split draw after 10 ferocious rounds.
Though Cardenas, who trains with Robert Garcia, started slowly he began churning out effective blows to gain momentum and slow down the fast attacks of Martinez. No knockdowns were scored, but each had their moments. Martinez was effective with combination punching in angles and Cardenas used uppercuts and left hooks to score in their fierce battle. One judge saw it 98-92 for Martinez, another 96-94 for Cardenas and a third 95-95 for a split draw.
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