In an exciting battle, super featherweight contender Eduardo ‘Sugar’ Nunez (28-1, 28 KOs) outslugged veteran Miguel Marriaga (31-8, 26 KOs), scoring a sixth-round stoppage on Saturday night in their chief support bout at the Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson, California.
(Credit: Melina Pizano/Matchroom)
The fight was not among the 27-year-old Sugar Nunez’s easier matches because he took massive power shots from Marriaga, 37, in each round.
Nunez’s Relentless Pressure
Nunez neutralized much of Marriaga’s power by staying close and crowding him. In round four, Sugar Nunez knocked Marriaga down with a right hand that sent him partially through the bottom ropes. Marriaga wasn’t ready for the right hand, and it mowed him down.
Despite that knockdown, Marriaga fought well in the fourth and fifth rounds, landing occasional body and headshots that had the crowd roaring. Nunez didn’t seem to mind that he was getting caught flush, as his entire focus was to land his right hand and combinations.
Nunez backed Marriaga up against the ropes in the sixth and shelled him with speedy combinations. Marriaga did a good job of making Nunez miss many of his shots, but he was throwing so many that it was impossible.
In the sixth round, Marriaga went down from a body shot. After the round, the referee called a halt to the fight after checking in with Marriaga’s corner.
With the win, ‘Sugar’ Nunez will face the winner of the September 21st fight between IBF super featherweight champion Anthony Cacace and Josh Warrington.
“He [Eduardo Nunez] didn’t need to fight tonight, but you want to fight to stay active and stay fresh, but Marriaga can really whack,” said Eddie Hearn to iFL TV about ‘Sugar’ Nunez not needing to take the fight with Marriaga.
“He was a bit clumsy; he was a bit lackadaisical early in the fight,” Hearn continued about why Nunez, 27, didn’t look impressive early on. “He took a few too many shots, and then he started walking him [Marriaga] down.”
Marriaga couldn’t keep the action in the center of the ring, where he was getting full leverage on his shots and nailing Nunez with shots that would have knocked out 147-pounders. His inability to keep from getting back up to the ropes repeatedly by Nunez is what lost Marriaga in the fight because he was helpless when he was trapped.
“The knockdown, how Marriaga got up, I’ll never know, but he was also throwing back. Nunez is a powerhouse. He is horrible, and technically, he’s really good as well. He’s not just a brawler. He can actually box,” said Hearn.
Nunez Eyes Title Shot
“There’s no way out for the IBF world title. The champion [Cacace] has to fight ‘Sugar’ Nunez, and he’ll be next wherever he has to go. He [Nunez] went to Russia to fight [Shavkat] Rakhimov and bashed him up and stopped him [on February 16, 2024, winning by an 11th round TKO].
“No one is going to want to fight ‘Sugar’ Nunez, but they’re going to have to or vacate the [IBF] title, and he’s going to be a real handful,” said Hearn.