NEW YORK – Josue Vargas was too much for Noel Murphy on Saturday night.
The Bronx’s Vargas out-worked the lighter-punching Murphy and beat up the Irishman in the final few rounds of their 10-round junior welterweight bout at Madison Square Garden. Vargas (16-1, 9 KOs) won a unanimous decision, as judges Don Ackerman, John Basile and Mark Consentino each scored the fight for him by the same score, 98-92.
Vargas rocked Murphy in the seventh and 10th rounds. His durable, game opponent still made it to the final bell in this battle between southpaws on the Terence Crawford-Egidjius Kavaliauskas undercard.
Vargas, 21, extended his winning streak to 10. He hasn’t lost since he was disqualified in the third round of his October 2016 fight against Samuel Santana for hitting Santana when his back was turned.
The 25-year-old Murphy, of Woodlawn, New York, slipped to 14-2-1 (2 KOs).
An aggressive Vargas had his best round in the seventh.
Vargas nailed Murphy with a straight left hand that knocked him into the ropes with just over two minutes to go in that seventh round. About 20 seconds later, Vargas knocked Murphy backward by landing a right uppercut.
Vargas also bloodied Murphy’s nose in the seventh round.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
