Oscar Duarte ruined Kenneth Sims Jr’s homecoming battle in Chicago, pulling out a majority choice victory of their WBA tremendous light-weight eliminator.
Duarte gained on scores of 114-114, 115-113, and 116-112, which all appeared honest, with two of the playing cards giving a bit extra credit score to Duarte seemingly for his aggression and the truth that Sims fought arguably an excessive amount of of the bout along with his again on the ropes, one thing judges routinely “penalize,” or a minimum of simply don’t respect a lot.
Duarte (30-2-1, 23 KO) is now in line for a shot on the belt held by Gary Anuanne Russell, who has fought as soon as per 12 months for the final three years, fights for a corporation that doesn’t placed on very many reveals — and to whom his household has been very loyal — and has already fought in 2025, beating Jose Valenzuela for that belt on March 1.
In a gritty, hard-fought battle of pale veterans, Regis Prograis pulled out a call win over Joseph “JoJo” Diaz on scores of 96-94, 96-94, and 98-92. You might argue 96-94 for both man, I believe, you might argue a draw, however giving Prograis eight rounds appears a bit a lot, a minimum of from the TV angles.
This actually was a terrific, robust battle, and an actual credit score to each guys. The 36-year-old Prograis (30-3, 24 KO) labored effectively off of his jab and wasn’t almost as trigger-shy as he’s been in latest bouts, however he was additionally rocked repeatedly by Diaz (34-8-1, 15 KO), a pure featherweight who was combating right here north of 140 lbs. Prograis’ legs by no means appeared good within the battle, however he additionally by no means went down, and the judges noticed it his approach.
Each guys mentioned they felt they gained the battle and confirmed a whole lot of respect towards each other, with no trash speaking from both.
Prograis mentioned he’d do a rematch for “huge cash” however in any other case needs to concentrate on profitable one other world title, whereas Diaz — who has talked about turning his private life round after his run of losses and poor performances — was about essentially the most upbeat man you’ve ever seen lose a debatable battle, and says he’ll be again although he’s 3-7-1 in his final 11 bouts now. Diaz mentioned he’ll battle at both 135 or 140 going ahead.
