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Luis Nuñez Registers 10th Round
TKO Over Carlos Arrieta
Photos: Ryan Loco - SHOWTIME
Luis “The Twist” Nuñez looked impressive in his second
consecutive ShoBox: The New Generation outing
registering a 10th round technical knockout against a
game Carlos Arrieta in the super featherweight main
event of an action-packed tripleheader featuring six
undefeated fighters on SHOWTIME® Friday night at the
Caribe Royale Resort.
The Dominican Republic’s Nuñez (16-0, 12 KOs) worked the
body effectively all night against Puerto Rico’s Arrieta
(14-1, 8 KOs), finally landing a staggering straight
right hand that stunned Arrieta in the middle of the
final round. Nuñez, 22, then finished off Arrieta with a
flurry of punches that ultimately led to the stoppage at
1:41 of the 10th round on a night that saw three
undefeated records fall on the popular ShoBox prospect
series.
“The plan was to work the body and to break him down and
that’s what we did,” Nunez said. “I saw the right hand
was landing and I kept throwing it and trying to set him
up for it and attacking until we got what we wanted in
the final round. It was a great shot and great win for
my career. It’s the way I wanted to close the fight.”
Nuñez landed 38 percent of his power punches and
out-landed Arrieta 142-131 in total punches on the
night.
Arrieta’s loss was the 206th time in ShoBox’s 21-year
history that a fighter lost his undefeated record and
the Nuñez-Arrieta matchup was the 144th ShoBox fight
between undefeated fighters.
“I thought it was a quick stoppage,” Arrieta said. “I
was a little stunned, but I could have continued. I
didn’t want the fight to be stopped. He was a strong
fighter, a true warrior. He’s a very good fighter and
was very effective with the right hand.”
Nuñez said he is ready to go back down to 126 pounds
after contesting his first professional fight in the
130-pound super featherweight division. “I fought for
most of my career at 122 so 126 is where I belong,” he
said. “I felt strong at this weight [super
featherweight] but 126 is the weight for me.”
He added: “I knew he was a tough fighter and I’m not
surprised the fight went as it did. He came to fight,
and we gave the fans a good fight.”
In the co-feature, Otar Eranosyan remained unbeaten with
his second consecutive ShoBox victory as he dominated
Starling Castillo with a unanimous-decision victory in
an eight-round lightweight affair. The scores were 79-71
and 80-70 twice. (Eranosyan UD win HERE).
The former highly decorated Georgian amateur Eranosyan
(11-0, 6 KOs), fighting out of Hollywood, Fla.,
dominated the bout, scoring a 10-7 first round with two
knockdowns against the Dominican Republic’s Castillo
(16-1, 12 KOs).
“We work on the left hook in training and when the
opening presented itself I landed the left hook on the
(first) knockdown,” said Eranosyan, ranked No. 7 by the
WBA at 130 pounds, who fought six times in 2021. “It’s
fine that he got up. This is pro boxing. We train for 12
rounds, 10 rounds, eight rounds, however long it takes
we will be there.
“I feel great about my performance. This is why I train
like I do and fight as hard as I do for nights like
these.”
With the win, Eranosyan believes the time is now for him
to face the blue-chippers around his weight class.
“I’m ready for all the champions. Bring them on,”
Eranosyan said. “Shakur Stevenson, Oscar Valdez, I’m
ready for all of them. I’m getting better and better
each fight and I’m ready now to face the best. I know
that with more performances like these, soon I will be
champion of the world.”
The 26-year-old Castillo suffered a knockdown in the
first round on a left hand by Eranosyan that startled
Castillo but wasn’t a direct connect. Just seconds
before the round ended, Castillo was sent to the canvas
once again on a counter right hand giving Eranosyan a
10-7 round and commanding early-fight lead. (First-round
highlights HERE)
Eranosyan outlanded Castillo 153-102 in total punches.
Of his 153 landed punches, 150 were power punches for
Eranosyan.
The 28-year-old Eranosyan nicknamed “Pitbull” made his
ShoBox debut in September and defeated the highly
regarded Alejandro “Pork Chop” Guerrero via unanimous
decision in Broken Arrow, Okla.
In the telecast opener, William Foster III passed a
difficult test, earning a hard-fought split decision
against Edwin De Los Santos in an eight-round super
featherweight bout. Two judges scored the fight 77-74
twice for Foster, with the third judge scoring it 77-74
in favor of De Los Santos. (Foster’s split-decision win
HERE)
Foster (14-0, 9 KOs) of West Haven, Conn., overcame a
slow start but was the busier fighter, outthrowing De
Los Santos 468-421. Fighting in his U.S. debut, the
power-punching De Los Santos (13-1, 12 KOs) of Santo
Domingo, Dominican Republic, had an eventful fourth
round, suffering a cut above his left eye, which seemed
to slow him over the final four rounds. It was the first
time the Dominican suffered a cut in his professional
career. De Los Santos also had a point taken away in the
fourth for holding. Fatigue was also a factor as De Los
Santos had never been past the sixth round in his young
career and seemed to run out of gas as the fight wore
on.
“I was pressuring him the whole time and I knew he was
slowing down and eventually I would get to him,” said
Foster, who kept moving forward as the fight progressed
and dictated and landed the more powerful punches. “I
thought it was the right decision because I was landing
more shots as the fight went on.”
The 28-year-old Foster – the younger brother of 20-0
professional light heavyweight prospect Charles Foster –
was surprised with how fast De Los Santos started. “I
knew I had to stay calm, and I adapted and my experience
allowed me to adjust to what was happening,” Foster
said. “He wasn’t devastating, and the punches never hurt
me. I knew he would slow down and when he did, I began
to land my shots and had success with my pressure.”
Regarding the point deduction in the fourth, De Los
Santos disagreed with the referee’s decision. “I didn’t
think the point should have been deducted,” said De Los
Santos, who had scored stoppages in his last seven
fights. “I thought I should have been warned first.
“I thought it was a close fight, but I thought I did
enough to earn the victory. I was landing the harder
shots throughout and he never hurt me.”
Added De Los Santos: “He was a little awkward and he
came with a little more than we thought he would, but I
still thought I won. He was aggressive and maybe I
slowed down a little as the fight went on, but I still
thought I was landing. This is a setback but I’ll learn
from this and come back better.”
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