By Steven Cummings @ ringside
Super lightweight Oscar Duarte came on strong against late sub Miguel Madueno to score a 7th round KO at The Honda Center in Anaheim, CA Saturday night. Duarte (29-2-1, 23 KOs), took a couple of rounds to get going before mounting a two-fisted attack and outgunned Madueno (31-3, 28 KOs) in an entertaining slugfest.
Madueno stepped in on late notice for an injured Regis Prograis, and it is hard to see how that matchup would have been better. Madueno came out for the opening bell with a purpose and took the first two rounds while Duarte stalked, looking for openings.
By the third round, Duarte found his groove and fired off power shots with both hands. Digging the body, Duarte clearly got a reaction from Madueno, who complained about low blows. But a lot of Duarte’s body work was legit and there was a clear shift in the fight during this frame.
In the fourth round, the momentum for Duarte continued and the Parral, Chihuahua native evened up the score at two rounds apiece.
The pattern continued through round five. In round six, Madueno made another run at getting his offense going and did his best work since the second. But Duarte was a machine at the point and still took the round. Duarte’s shots were doing clear damage.
The end came in round seven when Madueno was staggered by a right hand followed by a big left hook. Duarte’s followup attack left Madueno helpless on the ropes and Talor waved it off at 2:09.
It was a good showing for the late fill-in Madueno, but even better for Duarte. He was able to stop Madueno, who lasted the distance with new WBO lightweight champ Keyshawn Davis and former title challenger Steve Claggett. Duarte has now put together three straight wins since his stoppage loss to Ryan Garcia in December of 2023.
Photo: Steven Cummings/InTheCorner.net
DARIUS FULGHAM KO6 over WINFRED HARRIS JR.
Photo: Steven Cummings/InTheCorner.net
Undefeated Super middleweight Darius Fulgham (14-0, 12 KOs) outclassed Winfred Harris Jr. with a commanding fourth-round stoppage. Harris (22-3-2, 10 KOs) had his head right int he path of Fulgham’s power shots and went down in the second round before being overwhelmed in the fourth. Official time of the stoppage was 2:18.
RICARDO SANDOVAL UD10 over SALETO HENDERSON
Flyweight Ricardo Sandoval (26-2, 18 KOs) scored a one-sided decision victory over Saleto Henderson. After a couple of slow rounds, they had some two-way action in the third, but Sandoval swept the first five rounds. Henderson got some work done in the sixth and edged out the round as Sandoval took a bit of a break. But Sandoval, of Montclair, CA, handled it the rest of the way, with Henderson maybe taking the 10th round as he came out desperately. Official scores were 100-90, 100-90 and 98-92.
KENNETH SIMS JR. UD10 over KENDO CASTANEDA
Photo Steven Cummings/InTheCorner.net
An entertaining welterweight contest saw Kenneth Sims Jr. (22-2-1, 8 KOs) get a unanimous decision over Kendo Castaneda (21-8, 9 KOs). The scores were pretty wide at 99-91, 99-91 and 98-92 but the action was back-and-forth throughout. Castanda cracked Sims at the end of round two and got a lot of power shots in throughout. Sims showed slick boxing skills and worked the body well with both hands. Sims got the better of the heavy action in rounds eight and nine before the two battled evenly in round 10. I had it much closer and would not have been surprised to see the decision go to Castaneda as his power shots seemed to outweigh some of Sims’ work. But Kenneth Sims Jr. showed great boxing skills and fought well against adversity.
JOEL IRIARTE KO2 over DAREL HARRIS
21-year old welterweight Joel Iriarte stayed perfect at 6-0 with his sixth KO as he badly outclassed Darel Harris (19-24-2, 14 KOs). Honestly not much to report here as Iriarte did as the old adage says: when you have an opponent that doesn’t belong in there with you, get him out of there. Iriarte did not mess around and the end came quick.
YAIR GALLARDO KO1 over CARLOS MIRANDA
Light Heavyweight Yair Gallardo (9-0, 8 KOs) of Mexico made quick work of Carlos Miranda (7-2, 3 KOs) of Honduras. Gallardo was ripping lethal shots to the body when the action was waved off at the 1:41 mark.
DANIEL GARCIA KO3 over FRANCISCO PACHECO
Unbeaten lightweight Daniel Garcia stayed that way with a commanding KO3 over Francisco Pacheco. Garcia (11-0, 9 KOs) showed no mercy on an overmatched opponent. Pacheco (7-4-2) was cut on the hairline from an accidental headbutt in the first. The end came at the 2:40 mark of round three.
GAEL CABRERA UD6 over ROBERTO PUCHETA
Mexico’s Gael Cabrera stayed undefeated with a six-round shutout of Roberto Pucheta as all three judges scored it 60-54. Cabrera moved to 7-0 with 4 KOs. Pucheta battled back over the last two rounds but saw his mark fall to 14-26-3, 8 KOs)
FABIAN GUZMAN KO1 over DANIEL LIM
Fabian Guzman of Orange, CA stayed perfect with a KO1 over Daniel Lim to move to 7-0 with 7 KOs. The middleweight bout was stopped at 2:59 after Lim (11-4, 3 KOs) hit the floor twice.
JAVIER MEZA KO2 over LYLE MCFARLANE
Super lightweight Javier Meza of Amarillo, TX went to 2-0 with his second KO as he stopped Lyle McFarlane (3-7, 1 KO). Meza was much sharper from the opening bell. McFarlane went down in the second round and believed he had been knocked down, but referee Ray Armendariz ruled it a slip or a push. Meza got right on him and sent him through the middle ropes to prompt the stoppage. Offical time was 2:15.
KEVIN GUDINO KO3 over RAFAEL CASTILLO
Photo: Steven Cummings/InTheCorner.net
La Puente, CA’s Kevin Gudino moved to 2-0 with his second KO by stopping Rafael Castillo (2-5, 1 KO) in the third round of their super bantamweight contest. The southpaw Gudino landed all the big shots and it was apparent early on there was a big difference in skill levels. Offiicial time of the stoppage was 0:35 of round three.
