By Dan Ambrose: Super featherweight contender Eduardo Nunez (24-1, 24 KOs) stole the show from the headline fight last Saturday night on DAZN with his brutal one-punch second round knockout victory over previously unbeaten Jesus Martin Ceyca (17-1, 8 KOs) at the Polideportivo Juan S. Millan, Culiacan, Mexico.
Ceyca looked badly hurt from the knockout, as he was legitimately knocked cold by the right hand from Nunez. That shot exploded on the chin of Ceyca, sending him down like he’d been shot from a 44 magnum revolver in the second round. The bout was halted officially at 2:14 of round two. Not surprisingly, Ceyca was reportedly down for a while after the knockout.
Nunez could be another example of a fighter like Mauricio Lara, with monstrous power, who was fighting in obscurity in Mexico without getting much press until last Saturday night when he was seen by boxing fans in the U.S. on DAZN.
The power that Nunez showed against Ceyca would appear to be greater than that of Lara. Whether Nunez can get a title opportunity like Lara did recently against WBA featherweight champion Leigh Wood is unknown.
The 130-lb division is well-represented in terms of the world champions, and it won’t be easy for Nunez to capture a belt in this weight class. For Nunez to capture a world title at super featherweight, he’d have to beat one of these champions:
- Emanuel Navarrete
- Hector Luis Garcia
- O’Shaquie Foster
- Shavkat Rakhimov
Fighting on the undercard of the Angel Fierro vs. Eduardo Estela lightweight clash on an Eddie Hearn-promoted card on DAZN, the 25-year-old Nunez put in the performance of the night with his devastating knockout of Ceyca, which totally upstaged the Fierro-Estela fight. That knockout put Fierro & Estela, neither of which are huge punchers, in an impossible position.
The eight-year professional Nunez is ranked #7 IBF, #8 WBO at 130, and it’s impossible to know how good he is because he’s been languishing in obscurity, fighting mediocre opponents one after another his entire career, and not given any major attention or quality opposition.
After this performance by Nunez, it will be interesting to see if management matches him against better opposition so that he can get television exposure, better paydays, and an eventual title shot.
In Nunez’s two previous fights, he’d been taken into the later rounds before scoring knockouts of Willmank Canonico Brito and Osvaldo Maldonado. What this could mean is that Nunez’s power can be neutralized and/or he’s another example of an Edgar Berlanga type of fighter who destroyed poor opposition but struggles against B-level fighters.