Bektemir Melikuziev (16-1, 10 KOs) overcame a mid-fight rally from Darius Fulghum (14-1, 12 KO) and a point deduction to win a narrow 12-round unanimous decision in a super middleweight contest on Friday night at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, in Las Vegas.
The scores were 114-112, 114-112, and 114-112.
Melikuziev vs. Fulghum: Fight Recap
The southpaw Melikuziev fought well early on, dominating Fulghum with body punching and straight lefts in rounds one through four. From rounds five through eight, Bektemir, bleeding through the nose, appeared exhausted and held constantly.
Referee Thomas Taylor gave Bektemir repeated warnings before finally taking a point away in the seventh round. The point deduction seemed to wake Bektemir up, as he fought with a little more energy. After losing the point, Bektemir used his jab and footwork more to avoid getting nailed by the big shots from Fulghum.
Conditioning-wise, Fulghum had the better engine, but he wasn’t using his jab enough or throwing to the body of Bektemir. If he had done that, he’d have won because he was the much better conditioned of the two.
In the 12th round, Bektemir surprised Fulghum by charging forward, hitting him with a right to the body and then a left to the head, causing him to stumble to the canvas. The shot didn’t hurt him. It was more of a case of not being ready to be hit.
Bektemir’s Future: Challenges Ahead
It wasn’t an overly impressive performance by Melikuziev. He did just enough to win a close decision againt the inexperienced Fulghum. There are a lot of fighters at 168 that would have beaten Bektemir tonight with the way he fought. The biggest problem that Bektemir showed tonight was his stamina. He showed that he’s a four-round fighter. He was so exhausted from the fifth round and was only capable of fighting with energy in brief spurts from that point on.
If Bektemir is matched against the top five opposition, he’ll lose. He needs Canelo Alvarez to give him a voluntary title shot because if he has to fight one of the contenders, he’ll lose.
Full Fight Results (streamed live on DAZN)
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Bektemir Melikuziev defeated Darius Fulghum – Unanimous Decision (12 rounds)
WBA Super Middleweight Title Eliminator -
Eric Priest defeated Luis Arias – Unanimous Decision (10 rounds)
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Joshua Edwards defeated Alexander Rhodes – Knockout in Round 1
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Federico Pacheco Jr. defeated Calvin Barnett – Unanimous Decision (6 rounds)
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Cayden Griffiths defeated Edgar Gutierrez – Knockout in Round 4
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Grant Flores defeated Brandon Campos – Technical Knockout in Round 5
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Santiago Dominguez defeated John Moralde – Knockout in Round 2
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Daniel Garcia defeated Camilo Rodriguez – Unanimous Decision (8 rounds)
