Francisco Vargas Pulls Off Amazing Comeback in Beating Takashi Miura

LAS VEGAS -- Seemingly out of the fight, with his right eye swollen shut, and apparently nothing left in him but a pumping heart and a reservoir of strength he may not have known he had, Francisco Vargas pulled off the impossible and came back with a shocking stoppage over Takashi Miura in the ninth round Saturday night on the Miguel Cotto-Saul “Canelo” Alvarez undercard at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino Events Center.

Vargas (23-0-1, 17 KOs) remained undefeated and captured the WBC super featherweight title when referee Tony Weeks stepped in and stopped it at 1:31 of the 9th round.

Miura (29-3-2, 22 KOs) looked as if he had the fight won. He survived some early trouble when Vargas rocked him the first round, and for a second, it looked as if Miura would fall. But he bore the brunt of Vargas’ assault, found the wherewithal to quickly recover, and come right back at Vargas. That little slice of the first round was the only window of opportunity that Vargas seemed to have.

Related » Vargas vs. Miura Round-by-Round Scoring

In the fourth, a straight left sent Vargas down for the first time in his career. In the eighth, Vargas, now blind in his left eye, couldn’t find Miura.

But Vargas opened the ninth with a straight right that caused Miura’s initial problems. Miura stumbled backward, and Vargas jumped. He followed with a right uppercut and then a left that sent Miura down. Miura than hung on trying to clinch his way through the round. But he was out.

And Weeks saw that.

Another Vargas barrage caused the veteran ref to step in and save Miura from any more punishment.

At the time of the stoppage, Miura was up 76-75 on judge Glenn Feldman’s scorecard and 77-74 on Adalaide Byrd’s card. Judge Patricia Morse Jarman had it 75-75 after eight.

Vargas landed 269 of 704 total punches (38%), connecting on 204 of 467 power shots (44%). Miura landed 166 of 458 total punches (36%) and 133 of 305 power shots (44%). Vargas used his jab a little more effectively than Miura, with 65 of 237 connects (27%) to Miura’s 33 of 153 (22%) jabs thrown.

“I’m very disappointed and upset I got caught in the first round, then I recovered and after that I thought I was winning the fight,” Miura said. “I think if I could have clenched better…I would definitely like a rematch.”

Joseph Santoliquito is the president of the Boxing Writer's Association of America and a frequent contributor to Sherdog.com's mixed martial arts and boxing coverage. His archive can be found here.