Oscar Duarte W12 Angel Fierro ... In an all-Mexican contest on the Ramirez-Benavidez undercard in Las Vegas, Oscar Duarte edged Angel Fierro to win a close, controversial split decision. The contest was supposed to be at junior welterweight but Fierro showed up overweight. To move ahead with the bout, Fierro was fined $40,000 of his purse after weighing in at 143.4 lbs., 3.4 pounds above the contracted weight limit. It took Duarte, 139.8 lbs., of Chihuahua, Mexico, three rounds to warm up and then the fireworks began. As the busier bruiser, Fierro, of Lakeside, CA, pulled ahead to an early points lead.  With the Robert Garcia-trained Duarte finally starting to fire back, round four ended with Fierro on the canvas from a right hook just at the bell. The fifth featured the wild exchanges that pundits and fans alike expected from this matchup. Though it was clear Duarte had the power to hurt him, Fierro stood his ground and did not run. From that point on, much of the second half was fought with both fighters standing and trading shoulder-to-shoulder. Duarte’s left ear was bleeding at the end of the seventh but it did not negatively affect. With the exception of the eleventh round, which saw Fierro darting in and out with flurries, Duarte controlled the final third of the fight. The judges were split, with a tally of 116-112 going each way, with the deciding 115-113 scorecard tipping the victory toward Duarte, whos record inproves to 31-2-1 with 23 KOs. He has now won five straight since his loss to Ryan Garcia in December 2023. Fierro, now 23-5-2 with 18 KOs, has lost four of his last five bouts.