Vasyl Lomachenko continued his excellent run with a dominant victory over Miguel Marriaga in the main event of an ESPN boxing card on Saturday. Lomachenko landed dozens more punches than Marriaga over the course of seven rounds, and after a massive shot knocked Marriaga down in the closing seconds of the seventh round, the fight was called.
Thus, Lomachenko improves to 9-1 as a professional with a seventh-round knockout of Marriaga. Lomachenko wanted to avenge his only career loss with a rematch against Orlando Salido, but that fight couldn’t come together, so the matchup with Marriaga was made.
Marriaga did go into the fight as a significant underdog, but he is considered a gatekeeper for the division. Lomachenko, though, is considered the best in the weight class and he made short work of Marriaga.
Marriaga didn’t win a single round, or at least it didn’t seem like it. Lomachenko landed a high volume of jabs and hooks, and even found himself taunting in-between pushing Marriaga back into the ropes.
Lomachenko retained the WBO junior lightweight title with the win.
In the co-feature, veterans Ray Beltran and Bryan Vasquez went 12 rounds. Vasquez took a round or two and one judge even decided the fight was a draw. But ultimately, Beltran dominated and took a majority decision.
On the undercard, United States Olympian and accomplished amateur boxer Mikaela Mayer made her professional debut in spectacular fashion, scoring a first-round knockout of Widnelly Figueroa. In other undercard action, Andy Vences remained undefeated with a third-round knockout of Eliseo Cruz Sesma.
Below are the full results for the card, including the play-by-play recap from the two fights on the televised portion of the card.
Vasyl Lomachenko def. Miguel Marriaga via KO in Round 7
Round 1: It’s a feeling out process in the opening round. Lomachenko is mostly jabbing to find his range. Marriaga connects with a good body-head combo, and then gets pushed to the ropes with some excellent punches from Lomachenko near the end of the round. Lomachenko lands several big shots to the head and a nice body shot to end the round.
Round 2: Lomachenko again walks Marriaga down, and lands a big right hook. Marriaga can’t keep up with Lomachenko’s hands. Lomachenko connects with a left hook, and the jab flicks through Marriaga’s guard for most of the round.
Round 3: Lomachenko is looking for the big right hook. He keeps the jab out there, almost constantly, and consistently walks Marriaga into the ropes. He goes to the body and connects with a big left hook. Lomachenko lands flush on a shot that sends Marriaga to the mat in the third. Lomachenko begins taunting Marriaga, backing himself up into the corner and demanding Marriaga come throw with him. Marriaga throws a body combo and Lomachenko fights him off, but stays in the corner, taunting his opponent.
Round 4: Lomachenko eats a big right hand while taunting Marriaga near the end of the round. He comes out throwing big, landing the jab. He just misses with a big left uppercut. He is taunting Marriaga some more. His jab, again, is consistently out there. Marriaga misses with a body shot and Lomachenko punishes him with the jab. A big left uppercut from Lomachenko lands near the end of the round.
Round 5: Lomachenko is cut, but it looks like it was due to a clash of heads. Lomachenko keeps Marriaga backing up, and Marriaga is swinging hooks from behind his guard, but nothing close to landing. Lomachenko misses with two wild hooks of his own, but peppers Marriaga with the jab against the ropes. Lomachenko pushes Marriaga against the corner and starts taunting him by tapping his head. Marriaga wings another hook and they may have had another head clash. Lomachenko, though, keeps up the pressure, landing short hooks and straight jabs.
Round 6: Marriaga connects with a big right hook to the body, but Lomachenko responds with several straights that back his opponent into the ropes. Lomachenko lands a left to the body, and a right hook to the side of the head. Some more taunting from Lomachenko, who again keeps up the high volume with a barrage of straights. The jabs aren’t really landing on the button, but they are peppering Marriaga and he’s absorbing almost no damage himself.
Round 7: More of the same. Marriaga has his hands up and is backing up, and Lomachenko is peppering him from all angles. Marriaga continually has his back against the ropes while Lomachenko connects with huge straight shots. With a minute to go, Lomachenko unloads with three huge uppercuts that don’t quite land flush, but do some damage. It’s another easy round for Lomachenko, and it looks like it’s going to an eighth when Lomachenko connects with a huge left hook to the side of the head. It drops Marriaga, and the round ends. The fight is called shortly after, between rounds.
Ray Beltran def. Bryan Vasquez via majority decision (95-95, 96-94, 96-94)
Round 1: Vasquez is keeping his hands low, which is going to become a problem for him. They spend much of the first round feeling each other out. Beltran connects with a big right hook late in the round. Vasquez lands a glancing straight hand of his own. The round comes to an end without anything huge landed.
Round 2: Beltran’s reach advantage is serving him well here. He lands multiple straight left hands. He connects with a big right hook and a left jab. Vasquez doesn’t land much of his own in the round. Beltran lands a pair of left hooks. Beltran slips near the end of the round. It’s another Beltran round for sure.
Round 3: Beltran walks Vasquez into the corner and connects with a big one-two punch combo. They tie up, and are separated. He keeps walking Vasquez down and into the ropes, where he lands without issue. He is forcing Vasquez to either back into the ropes or throw from outside his range, and it’s working well. Beltran takes another round.
Round 4: Vasquez ties a pair of left jabs that miss, and Beltran connects with a right hook. Vasquez puts together a nice combo that starts with a left hook to the body and a short right to the head. But Beltran lands a big left hook that stuns Vasquez up against the rope. Beltran throws some more big hooks, but Vasquez recovers. The round continues with much of the same, though Vasquez stays out of trouble for most of it.
Round 5: The left hook of Beltran continues to land hard. He connects with two in the opening minute of the round. Vasquez spends much of the round backing up. He throws a wild flurry that nearly lands, but Beltran keeps him backing up with the left hook. Vasquez connects with a big right hook and a couple of body shots near the end of the round. They were his best shots of the fight.
Round 6: Vasquez is more active in this round, and is landing some nice body shots. Beltran isn’t throwing as much, but he continues to land with the big left hook and left jab. Vasquez wings a right hook that just misses, and an overhand left misses too. There isn’t much heat behind Vasquez’s punches.
Round 7: Beltran’s left straight lands a couple of big times early. They tie up, and are separated. Vasquez has good movement still, but Beltran is connecting when he needs to. He isn’t going for big combos, though, and Vasquez has plenty of time to recover from the left hand that keeps landing. It’s still easily Beltran’s fight as another round ends.
Round 8: Beltran immediately walks Vasquez into the ropes and they’re separated by the referee. Vasquez connects with a left to the body. Beltran misses a winging left hook as Vasquez ducks it. A short uppercut from Beltran lands flush on the chin. Vasquez turns southpaw and lands a right straight. Beltran backs off, and connects with a left straight. The round comes to an end with Vasquez swinging wildly.
Round 9: Beltran has a cut over his right eye, and may have lost his first round of the fight in Round 8. He comes out pressing forward. Beltran lands two hooks flush on Vasquez, and it is the only significant strike of the round.
Round 10: Vasquez is moving a lot more and walking Beltran down. Beltran is bleeding heavily from the face and has lost some glass. Vasquez works a big combo against the rope, landing body shots and a hard hook. Beltran throws a straight combo that misses. Beltran is just trying to defend and get through this fight. He’s protecting a lead and clearly loses the round to Vasquez, but he’s probably lost the fight.
Lomachenko vs. Marriaga fight card results
ESPN Main Card
Super featherweight: Vasyl Lomachenko def. Miguel Marriaga via KO in Round 7
Lightweight: Ray Beltran def. Bryan Vasquez via majority decision (95-95, 96-94, 96-94)
Streamed Preliminary Card
Super featherweight: Andy Vences def. Eliseo Cruz Sesma via KO in Round 3
Lightweight: Erick De Leon def. Adones Aguelo via unanimous decision
Welterweight: Arnold Barboza Jr. def. Jonathan Chicas via unanimous decision
Middleweight: Esquiva Falcao def. Norberto Gonzalez via unanimous decision
Super welterweight: Artemio Reyes def. Steve Marquez via KO in Round 4
Super featherweight: Maxim Dadashev def. Jose Marrufo via KO in Round 8
Lightweight: Mikaela Mayer def. Widnelly Figueroa via KO in Round 1
