Curiel settled in after a competitive opening round and began landing the cleaner shots by the middle frames. A right uppercut late in the fourth round shifted momentum, and he continued to find Panthen with sharper work inside as the fight progressed. Panthen remained game and active, but Curiel’s accuracy and composure separated him over time.
The clearest moment came late in the ninth round, when a right hand buckled Panthen’s legs and nearly put him down. Curiel followed that with another strong tenth, opening a cut inside Panthen’s right eyebrow and closing the fight in control. Judges scored it 97-93 twice and 98-92.
In the co-feature, Jorge Chavez earned a unanimous decision over Manny Flores in their rematch, avenging a draw from last summer and claiming the vacant California State and WBA Continental USA super bantamweight titles.
Flores started quickly and pressed the action early, but Chavez gradually took over by standing his ground and landing heavier right hands. A sustained surge in the eighth round, highlighted by a flurry of uppercuts, appeared to swing the fight decisively in Chavez’s favour. All three judges scored it for Chavez by margins ranging from 96-94 to 98-92.
Elsewhere on the card, Ruslan Abdullaev continued his fast start as a professional, stopping Eduardo Abreu late in the fifth round of their scheduled eight-round super lightweight bout. Abdullaev dropped Abreu with a right hand in the third and again with an uppercut in the fifth before the referee waved it off with seconds remaining.
John Ramirez picked up a majority decision over Bryon Rojas in a ten-round super flyweight contest, while Cayden Griffiths remained unbeaten with a six-round decision against Lesther Espino. Griffiths scored an early knockdown and pressed throughout, but Espino showed durability to hear the final bell.
Middleweight Fabian Guzman closed the night with a sixth-round stoppage of Jose Gabriel Rodriguez, continuing his strong run inside the distance.
It was a long card with uneven moments, but Curiel’s composed main-event showing gave the night a clear centre, and Golden Boy at least left Palm Desert with a result that made sense.
Read the full article here
