Christian Medina made his first WBO bantamweight title defense Friday, winning a 12-round unanimous decision against Adrian Curiel in a homecoming fight at Domo Alcalde in Guadalajara, Mexico.
The scores were 120-108, 116-112 and 115-113.
Medina, a 25-year-old from Guadalajara, fought a calculated fight, targeting Curiel’s body. Curiel, a former junior flyweight titleholder from Ecatepec de Morelos, Mexico, was fighting at bantamweight for the second time in his career, with a game plan of pushing forward and forcing the action. But Medina was methodical in punching the head and body of Curiel as he came forward.
In the middle rounds, Curiel, refusing to take a step back, began to find some success. Yet the size difference was apparent. Curiel’s path to victory was aggression, but he appeared a bit too small to fully impose his will on Medina. Despite Medina landing big, powerful hooks to Curiel’s body, the smaller fighter refused to retreat.
In the 11th round, both fighters were warned by the referee after the action got rough in the ring. Curiel urged on his hometown crowd as he returned to his corner between rounds, and started the final round energized. The fight ended with both fighters exhausted and the crowd cheering for Medina.
Medina’s story to this point is just as interesting as Friday’s win. He lost three fights in his first two years as a pro. He then went on a 12-fight win streak before losing to unbeaten Ryosuke Nishida in 2023. Medina began another win streak and most recently picked up the biggest win of his career, knocking out WBO bantamweight titleholder Yoshiki Takei in September.
Medina improved to 27-4 (19 KOs), while the 27-year-old Curiel fell to 26-7-1.
Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.
