Luis Reynaldo Nunez defeats Carlos Arrieta by way of 10th Round KO!
In his latest at bat, undefeated super featherweight boxer Luis Reynaldo “The Twist” Nunez (16-0, 12KO’s) snagged his latest victory. The Dominican talent accomplished this feat by beating Carlos “The Chosen One” Arrieta (14-1, 8 KO’s) by way of tenth round stoppage. The bout, which aired live on SHOWTIME boxing, stood as only the second fight in the US for Nunez and the fourth for Arrieta.
Heading in, this was a rather bold move as both the young fighters had their unblemished records on the line. On paper, Nunez, who is ranked #13 (WBA), had the stronger resume, having fought the more accomplished opposition. Yet, it should go without saying that neither has exactly set the world on fire thus far in their career. This win on the big stage should serve as a beneficial boost for the Twist. Promoted by Sampson Lewkowicz, it will be interesting to see what Nunez does next.
Naturally this was a bitter defeat for Arrieta who has now suffered his first professional loss. More than likely he will look to take on a softer touch to get back in the win column, yet we’ll have to wait and see how it unfolds.
ONE-MAN SHOW
After a slower opening minute, the two men quickly got busy center-ring. Neither was reckless or wild but they were launching a lot of leather by the conclusion of the first. Nothing overly impactful landed for either. Nunez upped his intensity the second by really sitting down on his punches and taking the lead more regularly.
Arrieta was answering but not landing as many. Also, the Chosen One was more or less waiting for Nunez to stop punching before using his offense. The contest evened out a good measure in the second but Nunez was still the boss. This was due mainly to his activity and accuracy.
There was a steep drop-off in action during the fourth. For whatever reason, both pugilists did a lot more staring than punching. As compared to the previous period, the Twist put his foot back on the gas in the fifth. On several occasions he threw a barrage of tight, mainly precise, punches in clusters. His hooks and uppercuts were finding notable success. In the sixth, Arrieta visibly was slowing down and losing a lot of steam on his shots.
LATE FIGHT GLORY
At the top of the seventh, a right hook, right uppercut combo bothered the Chosen One and caused him to backpedal. Arrieta tried his best to remain pressed close to Nunez but, when he wanted to, the Dominican simply stepped back and ripped nasty hooks. The Chosen One was still fighting with spirit, but was in need of a knockout to win.
The fight maintained the status quo until Nunez caught Arrieta with a counter-straight right square in the face. The blow wobbled the Chosen One who kept his feet but drifted backwards to the ropes. Once against the straps, the Twist pounced on him and threw a flurry of punches. No more shots of particular weight or meaning landed, but given his seriously impaired state, referee Frank Gentile jumped in to halt the action. It was a good stoppage.
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By: Bakari Simpson
