“It is a big difference with Robert Garcia,” Duarte said after the fight. “It was the experience I needed.”

Duarte was pushed early, though.

Diaz entered the bout as the betting underdog – and that might have lit a fuse under him at the start. Diaz turned back the clock (for a period), boxing effectively and exploiting Duarte’s biggest weakness – the absence of a jab.

As a grueling back-and-forth pace was set early, neither fighter was able to fully assert himself through the first four rounds. Duarte pushed forward, but without the threat of a jab, Diaz countered and worked the body well. Slowly, as Duarte began landing more blows – the tales of his big punching are clearly true – Diaz’s legs began to get stuck in the mire.

“My plan was to bring the pressure,” said Duarte.

That he did.  

Whenever Duarte landed a punch, Diaz appeared eager to land back – that is, until a fight-changing shot landed for Duarte in Round 5. A thunderous right hand dazed Diaz, who kept his wits but lost his grip on the fight, as Duarte began to fully take control.

The eye-catching shots continued for Duarte. Diaz managed to land some clean punches, but the optics of Duarte walking forward and muscling Diaz backwards – as well as the overhand rights that made sweat fly from Diaz’s face – were impossible to ignore.

An exhausted Diaz fought valiantly, but from the eighth round onward he was unable to hold off the charge of Duarte. As Durate bulled forward undeterred, a sequence of shots forced referee Michael Margado to call a halt to the bout at 2:32 in the ninth. Diaz wasn’t happy about the stoppage, but his corner had made the same decision, throwing in the towel at almost the exact time Margado waved it off.

Gabriela Alaniz Upsets Marlen Esparza, Wins Flyweight World Titles

The second time was the charm for Gabriela Alaniz, who is now a unified world champion in the women’s flyweight division.

Alaniz outpointed former world titleholder and 2012 U.S. Olympian Marlen Esparza in a 10-round women’s title fight, winning a split decision.

The scores were 97-93 and 96-94 for Alaniz, and 98-92 for Esparza.

The story before the fight was simple: Marlen Esparza, of Houston, lost her WBA, WBC, WBO and Ring flyweight world titles not in the ring but on the scale.  Because Esparza came in two pounds overweight, only Alaniz of Buenos Aires, Argentina, was eligible to win the titles.

Alaniz (15-1, 6 KOs), who came in under the contracted weight of 112 pounds, showed more activity and pushed the pace from the opening bell. Esparza (14-2, 1 KOs) was sharp, but she kept her hands low from the second round on and picked her shots like choice words.

In a fight of perceptions, Alaniz truly dictated the action in the second half, coming forward and throwing at a high punch volume. Meanwhile, Esparza boxed off the back foot and appeared content to land concise and clean counterpunches. 

Alaniz showboated a bit in the final frame, which seemed to excite the Fresno crowd – but confused those in press row. The outcome was anything but apparent. In the end, however, Alaniz benefitted from the judges favoring her aggression and work rate.

Alaniz previously held the WBO flyweight world title before losing it to Esparza last year. Her win could set the stage for a flyweight unification bout with titleholder Gabriela Fundora, the sister of recent junior middleweight title winner Sebastian Fundora.

Raul Curiel Continues Knockout Streak Against Jorge Marron

All week, 2016 Mexican Olympian Raul Curiel had been vocal about wishing to extend his knockout streak to 10 straight. He wasted no time making that happen Saturday night.

Curiel’s power made all the difference in a first-round KO of Jorge Marron Jr. in their welterweight bout. A body shot dropped Marron (20-5-2, 7 KOs), of Lakeside, California, ending the action just 1:31 into the fight.

Curiel (15-0, 13 KOs), of Tamaulipas, Mexico, is trained by Freddie Roach, who was unable to appear in Curiel’s corner Saturday because he was closing camp with Jaime Munguia ahead of his May 4 challenge of super middleweight titleholder Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.

Curiel, currently ranked No. 8 among welterweights by the WBC, said he is open to fighting any of the top contenders at 147 pounds.