Canelo vs. Cotto undercard results: Vargas stops Miura in brutal war, Rigondeaux and Rios win

Takashi Miura and Francisco Vargas delivered on the hope that their fight could be a potential show-stealer, with the two warriors putting forth a late entry candidate for Fight of the Year on tonight’s Cotto-Canelo undercard, as Vargas stormed back and came off the canvas to win the WBC super featherweight title via ninth round TKO.

Vargas (23-0-1, 17 KO) started fast in the fight, hurting Miura (29-3-2, 22 KO) in the opening round, but the Japanese titleholder didn’t go down (remarkably) and battled through a harrowing first frame. In the second and third, Miura got back in the fight with some body work and a successful straight left hand, which hurt Vargas early in round four and dropped him later in that frame.

With Miura seemingly in control, Vargas made a stand in round eight, only to get badly hurt again late in the stanza, possibly surviving the round only because the bell sounded before Miura could put on the finishing touches. With cuts above and below his right eye, which was rapidly swelling shut, Vargas looked to get aggressive and turn the tide in round nine, and he did so with a crushing right hand that hurt Miura, nearly knocking him down, followed by two more clean blows that finally put Miura on the deck.

Though Miura gathered himself and returned to action, Vargas was all over him from that point on, and after several more clean shots, referee Tony Weeks was forced to stop the fight at 1:31 of round nine. At the time of stoppage, Vargas trailed on two scorecards, and the third was even.

Top super bantamweight Guillermo Rigondeaux returned to the United States in the first fight of a new deal with Roc Nation Sports, beating Drian Francisco in a dull fight that drew a lot of boos from the Vegas crowd. Rigondeaux (16-0, 10 KO) has never been regarded as exciting, but this was a bad outing for him. In spite of the fact that he won the entire fight -- scores were 97-93, 100-90, and 100-90, and SB Nation had it 100-90 -- he did so by landing a meager seven punches per round. Francisco falls to 28-4-2 (22 KO).

Ronny Rios opened the pay-per-view broadcast with a mild upset of previously unbeaten Jayson Velez in a featherweight bout, scoring a decision win over 10 rounds. The judges had it 95-94, 96-93, and 97-92 for Rios (25-1, 10 KO), and SB Nation had it 97-92 for Rios. Velez (23-1-1, 16 KO) was the favored fighter coming in, but he looked weak down the stretch of the fight, with Rios winning it by way of a strong performance after an even first five rounds.