Edwin Nunez W12 Christopher Diaz... Edwin "Sugar" Nunez retained his IBF junior lightweight title over perennial contender Christopher "Pitufo" Diaz, live on DAZN in front of his hometown crowd in in Los Mochis, Mexico on Saturday.  Diaz provided a tougher-than-expected test for Nunez. But when it was all said and done, Nunez dropped Diaz twice to win a wide unanimous decision and retain his IBF crown. The scores were 117-109 (twice) and 116-110). For the first half of the fight, it was a nip-and-tuck affair. Diaz  (30-5, 19 KOs) had proved to be a formidable foe by fighting well on the inside and landing numerous power shots to Nunez. It had looked like Nunez would struggle with the toughness of Diaz. But the champion started to prove his mettle in the seventh round. 

 

A delayed decision by the referee about halfway through the seventh as Nunez sent Diaz to the canvas with an overhand right that had Diaz’s right hand touching the mat. Then Nunez poured the pressure on. With about 55 seconds left in the round, Nunez sent Diaz right back to the mat with a crushing overhand right that definitively sent him to the mat. Diaz made it back to his feet to survive the round. From there, Nunez had things under control, but Diaz made it a dogfight by continuing his constant pressure. But Nunez (29-1, 28 KOs) was able to thwart the attack and make a successful first title defense. 

 

With that homecoming fight out of the way, Nunez can now look forward to bigger fights in the future. That was evidenced by Nunez's post-fight confrontation with WBO titleholder Emanuel Navarrete.