Luis Nunez scoffs at the notion when it comes to anyone doubting his fighting ability, despite the fact that he proved his point last September. The 22-year-old junior lightweight from the Dominican Republic wasn’t supposed to beat previously undefeated Jayvon Garnett.

Nunez not only beat Garnett—he dominated him.

“It doesn’t matter what people think, when I prepare myself to fight, I prepare to win,” said Nunez, through his trainer and interpreter Chelo Betancourt. “Being favored or not favored doesn’t matter to me.”

“The Twist” says he is prepared to take yet another step in his progression when he fights Carlos Arrieta (14-0, 8 knockouts) in a 10-round junior lightweight main event Friday night in the 2022 debut of Showtime’s ShoBox: The Next Generation from the Caribe Royale Resort (9 p.m. ET/PT) in Orlando, Florida.

Nunez (15-0, 11 KOs) is part of three TV bouts whose six fighters have a combined 81-0 record between them, with 58 knockouts.

Luiz Nunez is looking to keep his momentum rolling after his victory last September over Jayvon Garnett.

Also featured will be an eight-round lightweight fight between Starling Castillo (16-0, 12 KOs) and Otar Eranosyan (10-0, 6 KOs), and an eight-round, junior lightweight bout between William Foster III (13-0, 9 KOs) and Edwin De Los Santos (13-0, 12 KOs).

When he was eight, Nunez was introduced to boxing when a neighbor took him to a local gym. From Day One, he fell in love with the sport became a natural at it.

Arrieta has not fought in 14 months.

“I think I have an 80-percent advantage with that,” Nunez said.

Nunez wants to bring a 1960’s dance craze back called “The Twist,” based on Chubby Checker’s popular song.

“I want a put a twist to the twist,” he said. “From my understanding, Chubby Checker [who originated The Twist] was good friends with [my promoter] Sampson [Lewkowicz]. When I saw the dance, it’s something that stuck with me. So, I want to represent the name ‘The Twist,’ and I want to make it big. It’s really an old song from the 1960s, but I’m going to bring more light to it and bring it back.

“I’m excited to go toe-to-toe with Arrieta and to give a good fight for the viewers. I do understand that my opponent is very experienced and a very good fighter, but I’m preparing to come out victorious. We’re going to analyze, fight, punch, and if a knockout comes, it comes.

“I want to thank [Chris] Colbert for giving me the opportunity to spar with him. I really appreciated the opportunity. I liked the session because Colbert is a classy fighter and sparring with him helped me prepare for this fight. Even though he’s from a heavier division, we were going at it.”

Betancourt has been working with Nunez for six weeks. He saw Nunez’s last fight and was impressed.

“I saw it and thought this kid has a lot of potential, and I have to give Luis’ manager, Antonio Tineo Sr., a lot of credit, because he has a good eye for talent,” Betancourt said. “You’re going to see a lot of subtle movements from his previous fights. I can’t put it all out there what we’re going to do, but we had a great camp with Chris Colbert and Shinard Bunch.

“You’ll see.”

Super Featherweight 10-Round Bout

Luis Nunez (15-0, 11 KOs) – 128 ¼ pounds

Carlos Arrieta (14-0, 8 KOs) – 129 ¼ pounds

Referee: Frank Gentile; Judges: Fredrick Fluty, Erik Larsen, Alexander Levin

Lightweight Eight-Round Bout

Starling Castillo (16-0, 12 KOs) – 134 ¾ pounds

Otar Eranosyan (10-0, 6 KOs) – 135 pounds

Referee: Christopher Young; Judges: Fredrick Fluty, Erik Larsen, Efrain Lebron

Super Featherweight Eight-Round Bout

Edwin De Los Santos (13-0, 12 KOs) – 129 pounds

William Foster III (13-0, 9 KOs) – 129 ½ pounds

Referee: Frank Gentile; Judges: Erik Larsen, Alexander Levin, Efrain Lebron

Note: All refs and judges reside in Florida.

Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter who has been working for Ring Magazine/RingTV.com since October 1997 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on twitter @JSantoliquito.

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