Results and Recaps from Las Vegas Where Melikuziev Nipped Fulghum in a Fierce Battle

LAS VEGAS, NV — Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions was at the Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas tonight with an 8-fight card. The card was the usual A-side vs. B-side bill of fare redeemed by the headline attraction, a rare “pick-‘em” fight, in this instance a match between talented super middleweights Bektemir “Bully” Melikuziev and Darius Fulghum that shaped up as a lusty encounter and was all that and more.

Both had strong amateur pedigrees, especially Melikuziev. The Uzbek southpaw was a 2016 Olympic silver medalist.  As a pro, his only blemish was a fluke loss to Gabriel Rosado, a fight in which he forgot to heed the admonition “protect yourself at all times.” He avenged that defeat in the course of an 8-fight winning streak and was 15-1 (10 KOs) heading into tonight’ match with Fulghum (14-0, 12 KOs), the undefeated Houston product who was recently profiled in these pages.

In round seven, referee Tom Taylor took a point away from Melikuziev for holding and hitting. Houston’s Fulghum had the edge at that point, but the Uzbek had a strong 10^th, buckling Fulghum’s knees, and sealed the deal in the final round by scoring the bout’s lone knockdown, decking Fulghum with a straight left hand. Fulghum wasn’t hurt and was up in a jiff, but the damage had been done.

All three judges had it 114-112 for Melikuziev.

Semi-wind-up

Kansas middleweight Eric Priest improved to 16-0 (8) with unanimous 10-round decision over Luis Arias. He won by scores of 99-90 twice (which struck this reporter as too wide) and 96-93. There were no knockdowns, but Arias was deducted a point in round 2 for hitting on the break.

Golden Boy is enamored of Priest, who has a sideline as a model for brands like Nike and Adidas and has potential crossover appeal, assuming he keeps winning. Arias (22-5-1), whose previous fight was in India, was well-touted coming out of the amateur ranks but is 4-4-1 since losing a wide decision to middleweight titlist Daniel Jacobs.

  Eric Priest

Also

Houston heavyweight Joshua Edwards, who represented the U.S. in the Paris Olympics, needed only 128 seconds to dismiss South Carolina’s Alexander Rhodes. It was his second pro fight and second win inside the distance. Rhodes was 2-1 heading in.

In a 6-round heavyweight rumble between two overweight pachyderms, LA’s Federico Pacheco out-pointed Tulsa’s Calvin Barnett. All three judges had it 58-55.

Pacheco, who carried 259 pounds on his six-foot-five frame, had a lot of jiggle in his upper body. The younger brother of super middleweight standout Diego Pacheco, he improved to 9-0 (6) but a better gauge of his long-range potential may be his record in Team Combat League (0-4)

Barnett (5-3) twice turned his back on Pacheco and spit out his mouthpiece, but referee Raul Caiz Jr let the match continue. There were no knockdowns, but Caiz deducted a point from the 270-pound Barnett for hooking with his elbow.

Welterweight Cayden Griffiths, who recently turned 19, stamped himself as a fighter worth watching with a fourth-round KO of Edgar Gutierrez. Griffiths, who in looks and style is mindful of 1980s-era super welterweight title-holder Matthew Hilton, ended the contest with an overhand left that put Gutierrez down hard, landing on his face.

Referee Allen Hugguns waived it off as Gutierrez (3-3) was struggling to his feet. Griffiths is 5-0 (5 KOs) in his young career.

In a match that was spirited for as long as it lasted, lanky Coachella super welterweight Grant Flores advanced to 10-0 (8 KOs) with a fifth-round stoppage of Hastings, Nebraska slugger Brandon Diaz-Campos who was on his feet when referee Raul Caiz waived it off.

Golden Boy matchmaker Eric Gomez was guilty of poor matchmaking when he sent rising welterweight contender Santiago Dominguez in against Filipino John Vincent Moralde who had been out of the ring for 30 months and last fought as a lightweight.

Reputedly 62-4 as an amateur in Mexico, Arizona’s Dominguez (28-1, 21 KOs) collapsed Moralde with a body punch in the opening round. The official time was 2:52.

Moralde (27-6) was stopped for the fifth time. In his previous visit to Las Vegas, he was stopped in the opening round by Enrique Vivas.

In the lid-lifter, Colorado lightweight Daniel “June Bug” Garcia improved his ledger to 12-0 (9) with an 8-round unanimous decision over George Rodriguez. Garcia, who showed a good variety of punches, is managed by Joel De La Hoya, Oscar’s older bother. He won every round on all three cards. Colombia’s Rodriguez (10-4) was making his U.S. debut.

Photo credit: Golden Boy / Cris Esqueda

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