Everything You Need to Know About the Weekend in Boxing

Rungvisai Retains Title by Decision in Fight Much Closer than Scorecards Suggest

All credit to Iran Diaz. Although the unheralded Mexican superflyweight was believed to be way over his head against WBC champion Sor Rungvisai, he refused to let Rungvisai stop him, hanging tough for twelve rounds before ultimately succumbing to a unanimous 119-109, 119-109, 120-108 decision loss. Although those scores are far from close, Diaz’s courage should be applauded, and it should be noted he had two possible knockdowns on Rungvisai that the referee controversially deemed slips.

As for Rungvisai, a match with Carlos Cuadras should be sometime in the near future. However, his immediate future seems to be a matchup with the young Filipino Jerwin Ancajas. With Rungvisai seemingly committed to fighting in Thailand, this is the match that makes the most financial sense for him and would be a nice step up in competition for ESPN’s eight ranked pound for pound fighter in the world.

Inoue Knocks Payano Out with Second Punch Thrown

Ladies and gentlemen, the monster is real. This weekend, Japan’s Naoya Inoue moved to 17-0 with 15 knockouts by knocking out Juan Carlos Payano with a laser right hand just seventy seconds into the fight. That means, in his last two fights Inoue has knocked out two opponents who had never been stopped before as professionals, both within ninety seconds. That’s Tyson-like. That’s insane.

Inoue is ranked second in the World Boxing Super Series tournament behind Belfast’s Ryan Burnett, but he is unquestionably the favorite. Up next for the monster is the winner of the Oct. 20 match between Emmanuel Rodriguez and Jason Maloney. It’s doubtful either will make it out of the first round against Inoue; hopefully they can make it to the third minute.

Vargas and Dulorme Fight to a Draw in Dramatic Showdown

Jessie Vargas and Thomas Dulorme put on a spectacular show in the main event of DAZN’s Saturday night card in Chicago, in a fight that was ultimately declared a majority draw. Dulorme got dropped in the tenth round, then managed to dramatically drop Vargas in the final round to save himself from taking the loss. Vargas did win the fight 115-113 on one judge’s scorecard, but the other two scored the fight 113-113, resulting in the draw.

After the fight, Vargas admitted Dulorme was better than he expected him to be, while acknowledging that the various cuts Dulorme’s headbutts opened may have played a role in the outcome of the fight. Because the fight was so good, a rematch is expected.

317-Pound “Big Baby” Miller Obliterates Adamek in Second Round

That is not a typo, Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller weighed in at 317 pounds for his fight against Tomasz Adamek but managed to alleviate any issues carrying that much weight into the later rounds of a fight would bring, by destroying Adamek in two rounds. The critics who decried this fight as a mismatch were proven correct very quickly, as Adamek was a sitting duck for the enormous Miller, who walked him down and landed crushing blows with ease on the too-old-to-be-mobile former cruiserweight champion. In the second round, Miller walked Adamek to the ropes, landed heavy blows that put Adamek on the canvas and watched as Adamek opted not to get up.

Miller has consistently been gaining weight, entering fights heavier and heavier. Carrying 317 pounds into the 12th round of a prizefight would be a disaster, but as long as he keeps knocking opponents out with such ease, who are we to question him?

Beterbiev Stops Roman in 4

After getting dropped in the first round, Callum Johnson regrouped and knocked down Artur Beterbiev with a clean left hook in the second. Suddenly, Johnson’s dreams of laying a title belt on his father’s grave seemed real, except Beterbiev was ultimately just too good. Capitalizing on Johnson’s hesitation to swarm his hurt but dangerous opponent, the undefeated Russian regained his equilibrium and survived the moment, only to land a right hand on Johnson two rounds later that would end the fight.

After the fight Johnson tweeted, "It wasn't meant to be tonight, respect to my opponent but I know I can perform so much better than that and I'll be back better than ever. My time will come and I will lift a world title, 2018 is just the start of my career." Unfortunately for Johnson, on Saturday night we saw the difference between a fighter with a great story and a great fighter.

Luis Nery Returns from Suspension With Big Win

After weight problems and PED suspensions, Luis Nery returned in a major way, knocking out Jason Canoy in the third round of their fight in Tijuana, Mexico. This fight was never close, Nery dropped Canoy in the first, took the second round off, then finished him with a barrage of punches in the third round. Nery has shown the potential to be something special, the only question is if he can maintain the consistent discipline greatness depends on.