Light welterweight contender Oscar Duarte (29-2-1, 23 KOs) knocked out replacement opponent Miguel Madueno (31-4, 28 KOs) in the seventh round on Saturday night in the main event of a 12-round fight at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
Duarte, 29, took advantage of Madueno, fighting with his back against the ropes. He hurt Madueno, 26, with a right hand to the head that staggered him. He then flurried on him with a follow-up barrage to get the stoppage by referee Thomas Taylor. The time of the stoppage at 2:09 of round seven.
Madueno was cut on the bridge of his nose from a clash of heads in round four. In the fifth, Duarte landed a right hand to the left eye of Madueno that cut him.
“I want to congratulate Arnold Barboza on winning his title in Manchester. Barboza, I’m waiting for you,” said Duarte. “I knew he was going to start moving around when he felt my punch. By the fourth round, I knew he was feeling my punches. I want to congratulate the referee for doing a great job tonight. I want a world title with anybody. Any champion, I’m here. Let’s do it right now. All I have in my mind is world title.”
“It was a beautiful performance. Madueno is a warrior. He can take a punch,” said Oscar De La Hoya. “He’s right in the mix with everyone. Barboza, Keyshawn, or anyone at 140. I think Oscar is ready for a world title.”
Results
– Unbeaten super middleweight contender Darius Fulghum (14-0, 12 KOs) stopped Winfred Harris Jr. (22-3-2, 10 KOs) in the fourth round. Harris Jr. was in serious trouble from the second round, falling against the ropes and looking badly hurt the entire fight. Finally, the referee Ray Corona stepped in and halted the fight in the fourth after Fulghum hurt Harris Jr. with multiple power shots.
– Flyweight Ricardo Sandoval (26-2, 18 KOs) defeated Saleto Henderson (10-2, 7 KOs) by a wide ten-round unanimous decision. The scores were 98-92, 100-91 and 100-91. The nonstop pressure from Sandoval wore down Henderson, who did very little in the later rounds to make the fight competitive.
– Welterweight contender Kenneth Sims (22-2-1, 8 KOs) won a 10-round unanimous decision over Kendo Castaneda (21-8, 9 KOs). The scores were 98-92, 99-91 and 99-91. Boxing News 24 had it as a draw.
The fight appeared to be a close one, as Castaneda did the better work from rounds seven through ten, and he’d fought well enough to win round two as well. It should have been scored as a draw. Castaneda was throwing multiple hooks in the later rounds. At one point in the ninth, he hit Sims Jr. with eight consecutive left hooks. The judges weren’t impressed.
– Welterweight prospect Joel Iriarte (6-0, 6 KOs) obliterated an over-matched journeyman Derel Harris (19-23-2, 14 KOs) by a second-round knockout. Harris, 36, looked like he was just there to survive and not throwing much back. In the second round, Iriate landed a left uppercut that put Harris down. The referee then waved it off.
Golden Boy needs to do a better job of match-making for Iriate so he can get some experience against fighters that are at least trying to win. The 6’1″ Iriate shows promise that he can potentially be a contender, but he’s going to develop being fed this kind of opposition.
