Raul Curiel remained unbeaten on Friday night, defeating Jordan Panthen by unanimous decision in a ten-round junior middleweight bout at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, California.
Curiel stepped into the main event after a late change on the card and adjusted without issue, boxing patiently and pulling away over the second half of the fight. Panthen stayed active early and tried to set a higher pace, but Curiel’s cleaner work and steadier control began to tell as the rounds accumulated.
A right hand late in the ninth round briefly shook Panthen and marked the clearest separation between the two. Curiel followed that with another controlled final round, opening a cut near Panthen’s right eyebrow and closing the fight without letting the result drift. The judges scored the bout 97-93 twice and 98-92.
The bout headlined Golden Boy Promotions’ first boxing event at the venue, streamed on DAZN, and came after several reshuffles earlier in the week that altered the original card layout.
In the co-feature, Jorge Chavez won a unanimous decision over Manny Flores in their ten-round super bantamweight rematch. The two had previously fought to a draw in July, but this time Chavez finished stronger, particularly over the later rounds, to secure the vacant California State and WBA Continental USA titles. Judges returned scores of 96-94, 97-93, and 98-92.
Ruslan Abdullaev recorded a fifth-round stoppage of Eduardo Abreu in a scheduled eight-round super lightweight bout. Abdullaev dropped Abreu in the third round and again late in the fifth before the referee halted the contest with seconds remaining after a sustained follow-up.
John Ramirez earned a majority decision over Bryon Rojas in a ten-round super flyweight contest, while unbeaten welterweight Cayden Griffiths went the distance with Lesther Espino over six rounds. Griffiths scored an early knockdown but was unable to force a stoppage as Espino held on through sustained pressure.
Middleweight Fabian Guzman closed the card with a sixth-round knockout of Jose Gabriel Rodriguez, continuing his run of stoppage victories and rounding out a long night of fights.
“If you ask me, they hyped up this whole event too much for what we got 😒 Only Guzman gave fans something to cheer for with a real knockout.”
That co-feature was way better than the main fight honestly 😤 Chavez looked sharp and actually went for it unlike Curiel who played safe.
“True that! Chavez came hungry and showed he wanted them titles bad. That’s what I call fighting with heart 💪”
Everyone keeps saying Curiel controlled the fight but I watched it and I think Panthen was actually landing more in the first half. Judges don’t always get it right you know.
Exactly! They always give it to whoever is promoted better or looks cleaner in the ring. But punches count, not who looks good throwing them.
Y’all tripping, Curiel clearly outboxed him after round five. Clean hits matter more than wild swinging even if it looks busy.
Curiel only won cause the other guy got tired. That ain’t skill, that’s just outlasting someone. If Panthen had more energy, maybe it would’ve gone different. I seen better fights at the gym than this one, no lie.
I don’t get why everyone is acting like Curiel is some big deal. He didn’t knock Panthen down, he just danced around and won by points. That ain’t exciting boxing to me. You gotta go in there and finish the fight if you’re really better. Just winning on scorecards doesn’t prove you the best 🤷♂️.
‘Unbeaten’ don’t mean much when you fight guys who ain’t on your level yet 😒 Panthen ain’t no killer and still gave him trouble in spots.
@Stevens Carmen I thought the same thing! Let’s see how long he stays unbeaten once he faces real competition.
Why they always hypin up these Golden Boy events like they big time? Ain’t nobody really talkin about this unless you already a fan 🤷🏽♂️.
Because they trying to bring boxing back, give new fighters a chance. Better than nothing if you ask me.
@Qgray You clearly don’t follow boxing if you think this wasn’t important for the fighters involved 🙄
This fight was boring to me. They say Curiel boxed smart, but it looked like he was just waiting around too much. Real champs go for the knockout not just points.
I agree with you bro! If you gonna headline an event, at least make it exciting 🔥. That was not main event material at all.
You both don’t understand boxing. It’s about technique and patience, not just knockouts. Curiel did what he had to do to win clearly.
I think the judges was too generous to Curiel. He didn’t do enough in the early rounds and Panthen looked more aggressive. Just cause Curiel had a strong finish don’t mean he won all them rounds.