By: Sean Crose
The 16-0 featherweight Luis Nunez opened Showtime’s Benavidez-Lemieux card Saturday night in Glendale, Arizona, by facing the 13-0 Jonathan Fierro in a scheduled 10 rounder. Each man looked a bit jittery in the first before getting into the flow of the fight. The second saw an accidental head butt seemingly cause Nunez to bleed from the right side of his face. The third was something of a firefight early on, with each man having his moments. Nunez, however, was able to land effectively while employing a sound defense. Nunez rocked his man at the end of the fourth, though Fierro was able to survive the round.
Although he looked to be behind, Fierro landed and landed well in the fifth, looking like he might have hurt Nunez. The man certainly had a strong round. Had he done enough to turn the tide? Things went back to being tight in the sixth. Nunez went on to land well in the seventh, though Fierro remained game. The pace of the high energy bout started to take its toll on each man in the eighth. Still, the fighters were willing to engage when need be. Fierro gave Nunez different looks in the ninth while looking to land clean. The tenth and final round saw Nunez landing the more telling blows, putting an end to a high octane affair.
The judges rewarded Nunez with a unanimous decision victory.