Ponce Upsets Ritson In Newcastle

The IBF title opportunity was on the line and unbeaten junior welterweight contender Jeremias Ponce rose to the occasion as he upsets Lewis Ritson in a stoppage victory in Newcastle Saturday night that aired on DAZN in the US and Sky Sports in the UK.

The official time of the stoppage was 1:24 in the tenth round.

The last contracted bout in an agreement with Sky Sports and Matchroom Boxing, as Matchroom makes the boxing moves over the steaming DAZN app exclusively in Juuly, at least went out with a fun action fight. It was between two fighters with a chance to take on as a mandatory opponent unified champion Josh Taylor realistically sometime in 2022.

It’s a big win for Jeremias Ponce who drops and stops Lewis Ritson in round 10 to lock in a shot at the IBF World Title #RitsonPonce pic.twitter.com/3TOXXnfNXb

— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) June 12, 2021

As the fight wore on, the firepower from Ritson stopped coming and the Argentinian Ponce was clearly one in control of the fight. One of the keys in the bout was that Ritson while exchanging was slowly, but surely, getting the worst of the exchanges.

Ritson was finally sent down with a nasty body shot in the 1oth round and in his corner throw in the towel. The referee, unfortunately, didn’t see it and this led to a final knockdown where referee Steve Gray finally stopped the fight. One of the worst judged rounds we’ll see this year, as he ignored the towel that should’ve stopped the fight in the safety of the fighter.

Ponce called for the knockout  before the opening bell and as the underdog came through with his promise.

Bad referee work aside, Ponce was clearly the better man in the ring tonight and keep the onslaught and punishment coming as he moved to 28-0. What he earned is a potential shot at Josh Taylor down the line, and Ponce will be a name we will be hearing from in the near future as a title challenger.