Oscar Duarte drops Alex Martin, wins by 8th round KO on Diaz-Gesta card
LONG BEACH, Calif. – Fringe lightweight contender Oscar Duarte notched another knockout win, dropping Alex Martin twice en route to a knockout win in round 8 at Walter Pyramid on the campus of California State University in Long Beach.
Duarte, who resides in Parral, Mexico, improves to 25-1-1, 20 knockouts.
The 27-year-old Duarte was relentless from the opening bell, aggressively walking the southpaw Martin against the ropes. When he was able to get in range, Duarte was able to connect with left hooks and short, right crosses to the head.
Martin was not able to find a rhythm early on as he had a difficult time throwing a consistent jab and fighting from distance. By the fourth round, Martin did find some success, outboxing and countering Duarte on the inside.
Duarte continued to move forward. Early in the sixth round, Duarte trapped Martin in a corner, unleashing a barrage of punches, including a vicious right cross to the head that Martin took well. Martin was able to utilize his lateral movement to make Duarte miss a majority of punches and countered Duarte to the head and body.
Martin continued to utilize lateral movement, making Duarte miss. Martin was able to connect, but fought in spurts and not letting his hands go enough to win rounds.
Less than a minute into Round 8, a right cross staggered Martin. Duarte followed up with another right hand to the head, dropping Martin to the canvas. Martin was able to beat the count, but was knocked down again by another right hand. Referee Jerry Cantu stopped the fight at 1:14.
OSCAR DUARTE GETS THE STOPPAGE
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Duarte was coming off a knockout win in his last fight over journeyman Javier Franco on December 17. Duarte has won his last nine fights, all by knockout, since losing by split decision to Adrian Estrella in February 2019.
Martin, who resides in Chicago, Illinois, falls to 18-5, 6 KOs. The 33-year-old has now lost two of his last three fights after winning his previous four bouts.
In a clash of unbeaten junior middleweights, Eric Tudor defeated Damoni Cato-Cain by unanimous decision. Scores were 78-74, 78-74, and 80-72 for Tudor, who improves to 8-0, 6 knockouts.
Tudor, who resides in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was the more-effective fighter throughout most of the fight. It looked like Tudor scored a knockdown in round 4, but referee Jack Reiss ruled Cato-Cain was thrown to the canvas.
Despite the height disadvantage, Cato-Cain was game, finding some success on the inside. Tudor utiilized his intangibles, including his reach and punch accuracy to accumulate points, especially in the second half of the fight.
Cato-Cain, who resides in Oakland, California, drops to 7-1-1, 6 KOs.
In the opening bout of the DAZN stream, lightweight Dalis Kaleiopu defeated Colombia’s Jonathan Perez (40-35, 32 KOs) by unanimous decision. All three judges scored the bout 60-52 for Kaleiopu, who improves to 4-0, 3 KOs.
Perez was deducted one point in round 3 for hitting Kaleiopu in the back of the head and one point in round 5 for excessive holding.
Preliminary action
Featherweight Jorge Chavez of nearby San Diego improved to 5-0, 4 KOs by knocking out Nicaragua’s Bryan Perez (12-17-1, 11 KOs) at 30 seconds of the opening round. Perez went down to the canvas, prompting referee Jerry Cantu to stop the fight at 30 seconds.
In the opening bout of the Golden Boy Promotions card, Patricio Manuel dropped Hien Huynh (1-2) of Saint Louis, Missouri once in round one and once again in round 3 to win by technical decision. All three judges scored the bout 40-34 in favor of Manuel, who goes to 2-0. The fight was stopped at 56 seconds of the fourth round due to Huynh not being allowed to continue due to a cut over his left eye from an accidental clash of heads.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at santio89@yahoo.com
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