Duarte Stops Madueño, Aims For Title Fight

Oscar Duarte and Miguel Madueño delivered a love letter for boxing fans who love some Mexican style action in Anaheim Saturday on Valentine’s Day weekend.

Duarte of Chihuahua, Mexico (29-2-1, 23 KOs) did what Keyshawn Davis and Ryan Garcia couldn’t do by stopping Madueño of Sonora, Mexico (31-4-, 28 KOs), continuing his impressive career revival.

Duarte was originally set to face Regis Prograis, forced to withdraw due to a nerve injury. Madueño, who trains in Los Angeles, stepped in on short notice. It resulted in a better matchup in many respects and solid entertainment for the fans, as well as saving the entire card for the 20 fights in ten fights on the undercard.

“All these beautiful people, thank you for being here tonight,” said Duarte. “Miguel Madueño is a gentleman. Thank you for taking this fight. he is a tough fighter. But tonight, it was a great fight for us.”

Duarte said the opponent swap didn’t matter to him. “I was getting ready for one fighter. Another fighter came. It didn’t matter. I’m ready for anybody. Anybody who wants to come here. I’m very happy for a great fight with him.”

Madueño Fighting For More Than A Payday

Madueño was playing with house money, and he came out swinging. He relies on his proven durability and he’s willing to take a punch to land a punch. He tagged Duarte early, but Duarte roughed him up in return.

Duarte began working the body, fending off and catching many of Madueño’s shots. But not all of them. In a longer fight this takes its toll and is to Madueño’s advantage.

But by the fourth round, the investment to the body began to pay off. Madueño was feeling them, and he complained to referee Thomas Taylor about low blows. Body shots were Duarte’s best tool when he could avoid lopping head shots coming back from Madueño.

Once Duarte felt he’d taken some steam off Madueño with the body work, he began throwing multiple punch combinations to the head. He had Madueño eating some serious leather. But there’s a reason Davis and Garcia hadn’t been able to stop Madueño.

Duarte: ‘I Knew He Would Come Down’

In the seventh round, the game plan paid off for Duarte. He landed a hard right, then seriously buzzed Madueño with a perfect left hook, and Duarte knew it. He moved in, and it was a stunning right cross that had Madueño wobbling, but still on his feet.

Madueño hadn’t made himself hard to find for the entire fight, and with Duarte pressing him against the ropes, a barrage of punches had him sagging against the ropes. Referee Thomas Taylor could have called it a knockdown, but instead he stopped the fight due to Madueño’s lack of responding to Duarte at 2:09 of the round.

“About the second round, I felt that he was feeling my punches,” said Duarte. “But in the fourth round, that’s when I felt he was really feeling my punches. I knew, I didn’t get desperate with myself, I knew he would come down. I want to thank him, he did a great job tonight.”

Duarte and Barboza Jr. Next?

Duarte wins the minor WBA Continental Americas title and continues his rise in the WBA lightweight rankings. He sits just behind his Golden Boy Boxing stablemate Arnold Barboza Jr., who won earlier in the day in Manchester, England. Duarte offered congratulations to Barboza Jr., saying “I am ready for you, Barboza!”

His knockout loss to Ryan Garcia in 2023 seems a distant memory. Promoter Oscar De La Hoya was delighted with Duarte. “Keyshawn Davis couldn’t knock out Madueño. Davis just won the world title last night. So that tells you a lot about Oscar Duarte.”

While De La Hoya suggested Barboza Jr. or his lightweight Kenneth Sims Jr. could make possible opponents, Duarte politely insisted on fighting a champion. “Right now, all I have on my mind is a world title.”

READ MORE: Barboza Jr. Beats Catterall on Enemy Turf – Teofimo Next?

Darius Fulghum Delivers TKO Win

In the co-main event, super middleweight Darius Fulghum (14-0, 12 KOs) stopped Winfred Harris of Detroit (22-3-2, 10 KOs) in four rounds, good to his promise before the fight would not go all ten rounds.

Harris’s plan was to make it a rough, inside fight. He has enough pop to get Fulghum’s attention but not enough to gain his respect. When Fulghum was able to fend off Harris, he landed hard power punches to the head and body before Harris could slow him down.  

Near the end of round two, Fulghum unloaded on Harris with a series of right and left hooks, with a final left right on the kisser. Harris would have hit the deck, but the corner ropes held him up. He recovered enough to beat the count and end the round, but the end wasn’t far off.

The ringside physician took a good hard look at Harris before round four but let him continue. Fulghum wanted a knockout and continued unloading when he could evade Harris and set up at punching range. Referee Ray Corona didn’t let it go much longer, stopping the fight at 2:18 of round four.

Fulghum admitted he wanted to deliver the knockout himself. “I want to please the fans, the crowd, and they want to see someone on their back. I was trying to deliver that rather than have the ref stop it.”

Fulghum said he’s still growing and evolving as a fighter, including work as a sparring partner for David Morrell as he prepared for his fight with David Benavidez.

Ricardo Sandoval Banks Decision Win

American flyweight contender Ricardo Sandoval of Rialto, California (26-2, 18 KOs) started his 2025 campaign for a title fight opportunity with a decision victory over Saleto Henderson of Indianapolis (10-2, 7 KOs). Scores were a wide 100-90, 100-90, and 98-92. They don’t reflect the solid effort put in by Henderson, who gave Sandoval the kind of rounds that are money in the bank for an aspiring young fighter.

Sandoval is currently ranked in the top six by all four sanctioning organizations and Ring Magazine. Sandoval is one of the rare college graduates in professional boxing, with a degree in Business Administration from Cal State San Bernardino – which should come in handy.

Sims Jr. Delivers Action in Decision Win

Kenneth Sims Jr. of Chicago (22-2-1, 8 KOs) faced an unexpectedly robust offensive effort from Kendo Castañeda of San Antonio (21-8, 9 KOs) in their ten-round welterweight fight.

Whether Sims Jr. wanted to entertain the crowd or was simply up for a brawl, he and Castañeda gave fans a barnburner for ten rounds. Castañeda had plenty of fans in the crowd cheering him on. It seemed the cards might be close, but the judges saw Sims Jr. in no danger, scoring it 99-91 twice and 98-92. Castañeda won the moral victory as his fans booed the wide scores.   

Joel Iriarte Doesn’t Waste Time In Winning

Undercard Results From Anaheim

Yair Gallardo of Mexico City (9-0, 8 KOs) made quick work of Carlos Miranda of Honduras (7-2, 3 KOs). Gallardo came right at Miranda and caught him off guard with his speed and combination punching. After he drilled Miranda to the body, referee Thomas Taylor jumped in as he hit the canvas, ending the fight at 1:41 of the first round.

The 21-year-old is a promising prospect with lots of potential. Saturday’s fight was in the cruiserweight division, but the 6-foot-2 Gallardo has more options in a lighter division.

Lightweight Daniel “June Bug” Garcia of Denver (10-0, 8 KOs) banged it out with Francisco Pacheco of Mexicali, Mexico (7-3-2). Garcia is heavy-handed, and in the early part of the evening, Garcia’s shots could be heard landing across the Honda Center. In the third round, Garcia backed Pacheco into the corner. Under the watchful eye of referee Ray Corona, Garcia landed a right hook and liver shot. Corona waved the fight off as Pacheco dropped to a knee at 2:40 of round three.  

Gael Cabrera of Sonora, Mexico (6-0, 4 KOs) and Roberto Pucheta of Jalisco, Mexico (14-25-3, 8 KOs) went the distance in a lively six-round super bantamweight fight, with Cabrera getting the decision victory. Pucheta made the 20-year-old propsect nicknamed “El Terrorista” work for the win. Scores were 60-54 across the board.

Middleweight Fabian Guzman of Orange, California (7-0, 7 KOs) had plenty of early fans in the Honda Center cheering his victory over Daniel Lim of Deerfield Beach, Florida (11-4, 3 KOs). They enjoyed two knockdowns and a first-round stoppage with one second left in the round.

Javier Meza of Amarillo, Texas (2-0, 2 KOs) stopped Lyle McFarland of Tulsa (3-7, 1 KO) in the second round of their super lightweight bout.