Frank Warren, who promotes featherweight contender Nick Ball, is still angry about the scoring of Ball's draw against WBC champion Rey Vargas in Saudi Arabia last weekend. Warren wrote: "Without a doubt, we should be celebrating another British world champion in Nick Ball, who pretty much overwhelmed the champion Rey Vargas, only for the fight to be declared a draw on the scorecards. It was a downright liberty, make no mistake, and I felt very sorry for Nick and his trainer/mentor Paul Stevenson for having to accept such a miscarriage of justice. True, Nick took a few rounds to really find his rhythm and start hitting the target, but Vargas wasn’t doing that much in the first half of the fight either. They were very close rounds and to say Vargas won the first five or six would be generous in the extreme."
Warren continued, "from the midpoint of the fight, Nick totally took control, roughed up the Mexican and rocked him on a regular basis. He knocked Vargas to the canvas twice and the outcome of the contest should really have been a foregone conclusion. Some people will have noticed that I was peeking over the shoulder of [ring announcer] Thomas Trieber when he was collecting the scores and, I am told, my expression when I turned around totally gave the game away. I was and still am furious over the wayward scoring. I know this is sadly a recurring theme, but these judges need to be made accountable and not just move on to the next overseas gig as if all has been forgotten. The WBC need to act and demand explanations from two of the judges as to how they reached such score totals. In the meantime, Vargas should be informed that there will be no further defences of his belt sanctioned until he again shares a ring with Nick. Vargas was widely considered the leading featherweight in the world heading into Friday night and such a status, in my view, now sits with Nick. Vargas should not be let off the hook, while there is also the potential for Nick to have a quick turnaround and take the WBA title off of the new champion Ray Ford. I fancy him strongly in that one too."
PRIOR BOXINGTALK COVERAGE:
MARCH 9, 2024: WBC featherweight champion Rey Vargas defended his crown by fighting to a rough draw with Nick Ball of England at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Friday. Vargas, wh is much taller than Ball, started well and dominated the first six rounds. In the seventh, Ball caught up with him and landed several power punches. In the eighth, Ball sent Vargas to the canvas with a left that caught him badly. And maintaining the intensity, Ball again knocked down Vargas in the eleventh round. Judge Massimo Barrovecchio saw Vargas win 114-112; Jun Bae Lim scored 116-110 in favor of Ball; while Rey Danseco scored it 113-113 to declare the tie. Vargas declared that he is willing to give Ball a rematch. Vargas’ record is now 36-1-1, with 22 KOs. knockouts, while Ball is 19-0-1, 11 knockouts.
