Just How Good is Luis Reynaldo Nunez?
By Space Coast Daily // December 29, 2021
The 2022 boxing year gets off to an exciting start in Florida. After the Ortiz v Martin clash on New Year’s day comes a fascinating bill at the Caribe Royale in Orlando. You can bet a lot of eyes will be on the unbeaten prospects in the main event. Just how good is Luis Reynaldo Nunez?
Sportsbooks can expect a busy year giving odds on the lightweight division. It’s packed with talent and a few shocks too. That was the case when George Kambosos Jr defied the odds to beat Teofimo Lopez. With boxers such as Vasyl Lomachenko, Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia, making it to the top of the lightweight division is a tough task.
Luis Reynaldo Nunez is 21-years old and one boxer that may well join that list of top contenders. Many experts are prepared to bet on him being a major player in the lightweight division in the years to come.
New York finally sees sports betting legalised this year. Boxing fans will be able to bet on the top fights and other sports when enjoying their BetMGM bonus for New Yorkers.
Hailing from the Dominican Republic, Nunez had an excellent amateur career. The highlight of that was gold medal win at the 2016 World Youth Championships.
Winning at that level doesn’t mean you can go out and bet on the gold medallist having a successful professional career. The same could be said for Karma Farber, winner of a silver medal at the USA Boxing National Junior Olympics this year.
Nunez turned professional in 2018 and he got off to a powerful start in the pro ranks. Anyone betting on him winning inside the distance would have had a big smile on their face in his early fights.
His first six pro fights lasted just 11 rounds. Two of them saw Nunez dispose of his opponents in the first round and none went past the third round.
Nine fights were won in a row before Nunez fought for his first professional title. October 2019 saw him take on Eliezer Aquino for the vacant Dominican super bantamweight title. He won the title on a unanimous decision, each judge giving it to Nunez by at least eight points.
The following year saw him also win the vacant WBA Fedelatin super bantamweight belt. Nunez justified his favouritism with a fourth round knock out of Giovanni Gutierrez who had only lost one previous bout.
Nunez has now moved up in weight and won two fights in 2021. He beat Florentino Perez Hernandez in May and then four months later had his first fight in the USA.
Sportsbooks predicted a win over the undefeated Jayvon Garnett and that’s just what happened. His opponent wasn’t the most adventurous fighter and Nunez won on a wide-margin ten-round points decision.
That extended his unbeaten record to 15-0 with 11 wins inside the distance. He’s very much seen as a future contender and 2022 is going to be an important year for him. It’s unlikely any major title shots will come his way but there are plenty of other steppingstone belts for him to win.
Now he’s preparing for his first fight of the new year. He takes on the unbeaten Puerto Rican Carlos Arrieta. His opponent has the nickname ‘The Chosen One’ but if betting on this fight, that’s not likely to be the case.
Arrieta has won all 14 of his professional fights, eight inside the distance. He made his pro debut at the end of 2015 beating Luis Borgos in a couple of rounds.
Over the next two years, Arrieta extended his record to 6-0 with all his wins coming inside the distance. It wasn’t against the best of opposition of course. Two opponents were making their pro debut and the other three were still waiting to win their first pro fight. Most punters would bet on Arrieta maintaining his unbeaten record.
His next two bouts were against fighters who had lost 42 fights between them. His toughest fight to date was two years ago when he beat Ricardo Nunez (no relation to his opponent in this fight). He won on points, but one judge called it a draw.
Arrieta has been out of the ring since December 2020. His last fight saw him defeat Julio Buitrago, winning a six-round points decision. Buitrago hasn’t won a fight since 2016 and after a recent first round loss to Javon Campbell, has lost 14 successive fights.
This match-up against Nunez is a big step up for Arrieta. He’s not fighting a journeyman here but a possible future contender. Betting on Nunez to end Arrieta’s unbeaten record looks a good one to make but how convincing a performance can he put on? An inside the distance win would open a few eyes.
