OSCAR Duarte defeated his old sparring partner Botirzhon Akhmedov over 10 rounds as part of Golden Boy’s Latino Night in Riyadh. The judges handed in scores of 98-92, 97-93, and 96-94, all in favour of Duarte. Akhmedov will walk away feeling hard done by yet again as he comes to terms with defeat number four. The 98-92 scorecard felt particularly wide, given the close-quarters nature of the contest.

Following a familiarly aggressive start from southpaw Akhmedov, his Mexican foe got a little foothold by finding range and timing shots between Akhmedov’s consistent raids. It was a gruelling phonebox affair, as expected. 

The Uzbek managed to slip away from Duarte’s winging left hook in round six, replying with some whipping hooks to the body, attempting to deplete the gas tank. By the midway point, it felt like Akhmedov had his nose in front.

Seeking to make the second half of the fight his territory, Duarte looked to land an uppercut in the seventh, moving downstairs off the back of his flurries. Akhmedov appeared to momentarily wane in round eight following a couple of heavy shots.

Both men went at it in the 10th and final round to try and close the show. Boxing with blood on the forehead, Duarte’s added accuracy helped see him through, and he looked exhausted in the end.

“I knew that he was a warrior, but I just followed the indications and advice from my corner and thought I won it clearly,” said Duarte.

“The adjustment we made were that we needed to take the initiative in the fight to work the body and the head also. I want to fight Devin Haney [next] because he’s back and he’s one of the best. I feel like I’m on my way back now.”

Oscar Duarte improved to 28-2-1 (22 KOs), and Botirzhon Akhmedov dropped to 10-4 (9 KOs).