Fight Night: Sat, Nov 06, 2021 - MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada

Two-time super middleweight world champion Anthony “The Dog” Dirrell secured a fourth-round KO over contender “Madman” Marcos Hernández in their co-main attraction.
Dirrell vs Hernandez Round by Round Fight Summary. Rounds are displayed numerically as columns. Each row will display one of the following: W for win, L for loss, KO for knockout, or TKO for technical knock out. An empty column means that data is not available.
Fighter Name 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Dirrell No data available No data available No data available No data available
Hernandez No data available No data available No data available No data available

Dirrell backs up Hernandez with big right hand.

In the co-main event, Flint, Michigan’s Anthony Dirrell (34-2-2, 25 KOs) scored a stunning, highlight-reel knockout of Marcos Hernandez (15-5-2, 3 KOs) just seconds into the fourth-round. Dirrell wound up and unleashed a vicious right uppercut to send Hernandez flat on his back and score the one-punch KO. Hernandez beat the 10-count, but referee Celestino Ruiz called off the fight when the clearly injured and wobbly fighter rose to his feet.

“It was a spectacular knockout,” said Dirrell. “It was a punch we were working on. It wasn’t that wide. I used to use that punch way back when. I came up with the shot and he never saw it coming. My brother [Andre] was yelling at me and I said, ‘I got it.’ I saw it and I had to take advantage of it. I had to take it away from him.”

Dirrell, the former super middleweight titleholder, successfully rebounded from the disappointing draw against Kyrone Davis in February, and did so stylishly. The 37-year-old even capped off the KO with a celebratory backflip. Prior to that pivotal punch, Hernandez held a slight 46-40 edge in punches landed.

“I expected to stop him, I did,” continued Dirrell, who is trained by SugarHill Steward. “I thought I was going to catch him with a right hand over the top, honestly. I knew he thought I was going to throw that so I just came up with the uppercut. I came out here and made a statement.”

Former WBC Super Bantamweight World Champion Rey Vargas (35-0, 22 KOs) showed no signs of ring rust in his first fight in over two years, cruising to a unanimous decision over Leonardo Báez (21-5, 12 KOs) in a Mexico vs. Mexico matchup in the second fight of the telecast. Two judges scored the fight a shutout, 100-90, while the third judge scored it 99-91.

Fighting for the first time at 126 pounds, Vargas used his significant height and reach advantage to dictate the pace of the entire matchup. Vargas’ vicious body attack – he landed 71 body shots in the ten-round fight – broke down the much smaller and overmatched Báez, whose awkward style led to several accidental head clashes throughout the bout.

“We knew what we were in for,” said the 30-year-old Vargas. “We were prepared for a strong fighter. And we planned to outbox him. We had a lot of good exchanges and there were moments when I stood in front of him and landed my punches. I’m more of a technical fighter and not a brawler. The plan was to fight and to box and punch without getting punched. I had to stand there and throw big punches. But that’s part of the game.”

Already a former champion at 122 pounds, Vargas now has his sights set on becoming a two-division champion. “I was surprised he went the entire distance. He’s a good fighter and I don’t take anything away from him. I’m looking forward to my next fight being for a world title.”