Richard Torrez Jr. had little trouble facing his most experienced opponent to date, defeating Joey Dawejko via fifth round knockout at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Az.
Torrez (11-0, 10 Knockouts) was moments away from winning his 11th straight to start his career when Dawejko (28-12-4, 16 KOs) was knocked out after losing his mouth five times in two rounds, resulting in two points. which are held before the war is withdrawn.
“Joey was a vet, like I said. He never gave up. That mouth came out very slowly. That’s a seasoned move, but at the end of the day I applaud him. He fought well. I think we were able to show the great boxing skills I was telling you about,” said Torrez. 2020 Olympic super heavyweight silver medalist from Tulare, Calif.
Torrez used superior footwork and combined striking to defeat the 34-year-old Dawejko early. Dawejko began to increase his output in the second, landing multiple counterpunches in an attempt to wear down the 25-year-old Torrez.
Joey Dawejko DQ’d for losing his mouth too much 😯 pic.twitter.com/WUHO9dPBuB
– Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) September 21, 2024
The result was more evident in the fourth as Torrez’s busy right hand blindsided Dawejko from a southpaw left that was normally hitting Dawejko’s head. With his nose covered in blood, Dawejko continued to lose his mouth four times in the round, the referee picking it up from the canvas and putting it in his mouth each time without wiping it, deducting two points along the way. Between the short breaks, Dawejko began to deteriorate physically, with a left uppercut almost knocking him down at one point.
The defeat ends Dawejko’s seven-out-of-eight-fight winning streak following losses to Stephan Shaw and Zhan Kossobutskiy in 2022 and 2021.
Torrez-Dawejko was the main event on the super middleweight card between Jaime Munguia and Erik Bazinyan on ESPN.
Emiliano Vargas took out half of the ESPN card by brutally stopping Larry Fryers in the eighth round of the junior welterweight title.
Vargas (12-0, 10 KOs), son of former junior middleweight champion Fernando Vargas, outworked New York-based Irishman Fryers (13-7-1, 5 KOs), knocking Fryers down with a left hand from the southpaw . and forcing the referee to stop the fight at the 1:23 mark without a count.
The 21-year-old Vargas held the opening bell as his 34-year-old opponent followed without breaking the ring or giving any angles. Vargas began to take advantage with counter punches from both hands, backing his smaller opponent into the ropes. Vargas settled into more boxing in the second round but was able to hurt Fryers with a flurry of left uppercuts. With Fryers’ nose open, and unable to match Vargas’ explosive, the referee began watching from a short distance to stop the fight.
Fryers appeared to catch a small break in the fifth as Vargas appeared to injure his right hand after placing it on Fryers’ head early in the fifth. Vargas practiced throwing left hands until the end of the round before scoring late.
“I learned from experience. Every time I’m in the ring, I’m picking up more knowledge under my belt. You learn on the job. I don’t care what anyone says. There is no video on how to become a professional fighter. I’m blessed to perform here for the wonderful fans of Arizona,” said Vargas, whose brothers Fernando Vargas Jr. (15-0, 14 KOs) and Amado Vargas (11-0, 5 KOs) are also top fighters.
The loss is the Fryers’ fourth by suspension.
