Undefeated and largely unknown Argentians bursting onto the scene and leaving a lasting impression has become a common occurrence. Lucas Matthysse, Marcos Maidana, and Brian Castano all played B-side and captured the attention of the boxing world. This past Saturday in Newcastle, England, it was Jeremias Nicolas Ponce’s of Buenos Aires turn to leave his mark on the boxing world. The hard-hitting Argentine did just that and punished the hard-hitting, fan-favorite, hometown hero, Lewis Ritson over 10-lopsided rounds. To move his undefeated record 28-0 (18), capture the mandatory IBF position to battle Josh Taylor, and takes home our Fighter of the Week award. 

The little-known Jeremias Nicolas Ponce was given the opportunity of a lifetime a win against the hometown hero Lewis Ritson and Ponce would be in line for a world title fight. The 24-year-old fought as if he knew exactly what was on the line. From the opening bell, Ponce was in the grill of Ritson. Firing at an alarming rate and perfectly mixing up head and body shots, the Argentinian hurt the Brit in the opening round and moments later stopped Ritson with a thudding body shot. Ponce stayed in control throughout the early stanzas simply outworking and out banging the heavily favored Ritson  As the fight progressed past the midway point and Ponce clearly in control, he increased pace even further looking to stop the visitor in hutting Ritson on several occasions, backing him into the ropes and teeing off on the hurt hometown fighter. By the start of the 10th round, the end was near for Ritson and a vicious body shot at the beginning of the 10th came in and floored the Ritson. Prompting his corner to throw in towel. The referee, Steve Gray, used his judgment and dismissed the towel allowing the beatdown to continue. Ponce continued the assault that dropped Ritson twice more, finally bringing referee Gray in and stopped the action giving Ponce the massive upset victory and securing him a world title fight.

The Buenos Aires native has a very clear path to a world title. Unfortunately, it runs through pound-for-pound elite and undisputed jr welterweight champ Josh Taylor. It becomes a waiting game at this point for Ponce. His performance was nothing short of sensational and Ritson is a hard-hitting and solid opponent. However, it does little to prepare you for a complete fighter like the Tartan Tornado. He also has very other little noticeable names on his resume that make one think he can handle Taylor, so when the fight does happen he will enter as a prohibitive underdog. However, as we continue to see, time and again that it’s that very position that these rugged Argentinean fighters thrive in and do their very best work and shock the boxing world.