WBC featherweight champion Rey Vargas clung to his title by the skin of his teeth, ending up in a twelve-round stalemate with top contender Nick Ball. Vargas, with his towering height, seemed to overshadow Ball, who stands at a modest 5’2″, controlling the fight’s early half. However, the tables turned as Ball sent Vargas reeling in the seventh, floored him in the eighth, and once more in the eleventh round.
Vargas, the towering Mexican, narrowly held onto his belt, with the judges’ cards reading 114-112 and 113-113 in his favor, while Ball edged out on the third with 116-110. The fight’s tale was one of stark contrast—Vargas, leveraging his reach, dominated the early rounds with precision jabs and surprising body shots, seemingly stifling Ball’s game plan.
Ball, dwarfed yet undeterred, struggled to close the distance, showing signs of irritation as Vargas slipped and countered, occasionally hitting the canvas in what appeared to be appeals to the referee. However, the momentum shifted dramatically in the seventh, with Ball landing a hefty right, shaking Vargas and finally bringing the fight into his wheelhouse.
The eighth saw Ball scoring a knockdown, igniting a comeback that had been simmering, his relentless energy breathing new life into the fight. Despite a momentary stumble in the tenth under Vargas’s body attack, Ball’s aggression seemed to tip the scales round by round.
An 11th round knockdown by Ball underscored his late-fight surge, although a knockout eluded him, leaving the final verdict in the hands of the judges. The decision, unsurprisingly, left Ball and his camp disgruntled, with talks of a rematch already in the air, courtesy of Frank Warren.
Despite Vargas’s willingness to take the fight to Ball’s home turf for a sequel, the scrappy nature of tonight’s encounter and the frequent complaints might not have the fans clamoring for round two. Yet, the ensuing debate over the decision could very well ensure we see these two square off again.
I had Ball winning this fight. What’s your verdict? Was justice served in Riyadh, or is there unfinished business between Vargas and Ball?
Nick Ball was robbed! Were the judges watching a different fight?