Oscar Duarte wins battle over Batyr Akhmedov and targets Devin Haney

Oscar Duarte won a good, hard fight over late-substitute Batyr Akhmedov following 10 physical rounds.

Los Angeles-based Uzbek Akhmedov pushed Duarte all the way, although he was not given credit on the scorecards, losing by margins of 98-92, 97-93 and a fairer 96-94.

Akhmedov more than played his part, but Duarte had a little more class and said afterwards: “I’m ready for anyone, and I want to fight Devin Haney. I want to fight him because he’s back and he’s one of the best.”

Two fights ago Duarte, now 28-2-1 (22 KOs), lost a bout to Ryan Garcia in Houston when he was stopped in the eighth round.

Akhmedov, 10-4 (9 KOs), only came in as a late substitute for Kenneth Sims, whom he lost to via majority decision last year. He was throwing combination early on, but found Duarte’s defences difficult to penetrate.

Conversely, in the third, the Mexican started to let his hands go more and while he did not put a dent in Akhmedov, was scoring with good shots. Akhmedov had a better fourth in what was becoming a hard-fought scrap, and they slugged away on even terms in the fifth. 

Akhmedov did not neglect the body, but Duarte was working well with left hooks and occasional right uppercuts. Duarte was impressive in an entertaining eighth but Akhmedov’s courage and ambition were never dented.

Both could catch and counter and neither were really able to establish their dominance. Duarte had blood on his scalp at the final bell and both celebrated at the bell to mark the end of the 10^th and final round. Good fight.

In the six-round show opener, Buddy McGirt-trained welterweight Ziyad Almaayouf maintained his unbeaten record but was held to a majority draw by Juan Carlos Ramirez Garcia. Two cards could not split them at 57-57 while one judge favored the Saudi Arabian hope 58-56.

Almaayouf was too open and shipped plenty of shots but had some success of his own. Garcia caught him with a right hand in the second, Almaayouf crashed in a left hook in the third, and both had their moments in an entertaining and close fight.

Mexican Garcia is now 5-6-1. Neither looked satisfied at the end, but the draw was fair.