'Take the risks': From Japan to Chicago, this week personifies the Golden Boy philosophy

Yahoo

3 days ago

It's another fight week for Golden Boy Promotions, but the greatest team celebration this week came courtesy of a moment not only outside their show, but on another continent entirely.
Golden Boy chairman Oscar De La Hoya was among the happiest people in the sport on Wednesday morning as he watched Ricardo Sandoval shock the world. The California-bred contender dethroned reigning unified WBC/WBA flyweight champion Kenshiro Teraji via upset split decision victory on the road in Yokohama, Japan.
Teraji (25-2, 16 KOs) entered the fight as the No. 1 flyweight in the world and just outside Uncrowned's pound-for-pound top-10 list. Sandoval (27-2, 18 KOs) didn't show any fear, not even after he was floored in the fifth round of his first world title fight.
In the end, the risk proved well worth the reward. In other words, the Golden Boy way.
'This is exactly why we watch match Golden Boy fighters accordingly,' De La Hoya told Uncrowned. 'We match them up tough, literally to get them ready for these types of fights — whether you're going overseas or you're going up against King Kong.
'In Ricardo's case, you can say it was both. But there's a method to our madness. We know how to do this. It paid off for Ricardo Sandoval — he goes to Japan, fights a two-division world champion and comes home with two world titles. We couldn't be prouder.'
The feat took place one day before De La Hoya and his faithful staff were set to meet the media and the public ahead of its latest offering this weekend on DAZN from Credit Union 1 Arena on the campus of the University of Illinois-Chicago. Saturday's card is topped by a coin-flip matchup between super lightweight contenders Oscar Duarte and Kenneth Sims Jr.
Both boxers perfectly fit the Golden Boy mode.
Sims Jr. (22-2-1, 8 KOs) has rattled off nine straight wins since an upset loss to Samuel Teah in November 2018. His success has come almost in spite of the industry, as he's gone from Top Rank to Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) and now currently with Golden Boy all without losing a fight.
The signs were there that the sport was never prepared to love him. He was all but punished after upsetting then-unbeaten Elvis Rodriguez in May 2021. Two years later and four fights into his arrangement with PBC, Sims upended Batyr Akhmedov in their May 2023 thriller — one of the year's best fights, and in a WBA title eliminator.
Neither a title shot nor even another fight under PBC's banner came from the moment.
Sims resurfaced more than a year later with Golden Boy.
'I really love fighters like Kenneth Sims,' said De La Hoya. 'He has proven to want to face everyone. You see in his record that he's not a big puncher, yet he stands right in front of you and can box you silly.
'He's in his hometown and is one step away from a world title. This is a great 50-50 fight and the winner should get one of the champions next. That's the risk that guys like Sims and Duarte are willing to take.'
While Sims gets the home game, it's his opponent who has captured most of the attention in the buildup.
Mexico's Duarte (29-2-1, 23 KOs) proved long ago his willingness to take on all comers. It dates back to him being matched ambitiously on early the 'Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN' series, where prospects were thrown in tough in lieu of being coddled and protected on the way to contention.
Even after his first defeat — an upset split decision to Adrian Estrella on a 2019 DAZN undercard — Duarte was determined to punch his way back into contention. He's since won 13 of his past 14 starts, including three in a row following a high-profile 2023 knockout loss to Ryan Garcia in Houston, Texas.
There wasn't any shame in the above-mentioned loss. Duarte moved up from lightweight, only to further agree to an elevated catchweight when Garcia was unable to make the 140-pound super lightweight limit. He more than held his own before he was dropped and counted out late in the eighth round.
The three wins that followed all came in statement-making performances. Duarte became – and remains – the first fighter to stop former super featherweight titlist Joseph "JoJo" Diaz, doing so in the ninth round of their April 2024 meeting in Fresno, California.
Incidentally, Diaz (34-7-1, 15 KOs) appears again on Saturday's Golden Boy show, as he faces former two-time 140-pound titleholder Regis Prograis (29-3, 24 KOs).
The win over Diaz wasn't at all squandered. Duarte was actually prepared to face Sims on Golden Boy's offering this past November in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but Sims withdrew due to injury and was replaced by Uzbekistan's Akhmedov, who Duarte overpowered and outpointed over 10 rounds.
Three months later, Duarte was the A-side of a main event for the first time in his career.
The moment was supposed to come against Prograis, who was forced off the show after an untimely shoulder injury. Duarte instead fought the normally durable Miguel Madueno, who was never stopped in 34 bouts prior to their DAZN headliner this past February in Anaheim, California.
That streak ended when Duarte forced the ending with less than a minute to go in the seventh round.
'Oscar Duarte is another one who can show what awaits you when you're willing to take risks and face anyone,' noted De La Hoya. 'Aside from his fighting spirit, the punching power really attracted us. He used to get by on his ability to knock fighters out. If he cracked you on the chin, you're either done for the night or you're not the same for the rest of the fight.
'His punching power is brutal and he's getting better with each fight.'
Duarte will have to prove that on Saturday against as difficult of a style matchup as there is for a fighter on his way to title contention. Fortunately for all those invested in his future, he's game for the task.
'I am the new face of boxing and I will prove it this Saturday night inside the ring,' Duarte vowed during Thursday's final pre-fight press conference.
'This is going to be a good fight. It's a good challenge. I want to be a champion. Whoever's in front of me, I'm going to take him out.'
Of course, the same risk in place for Duarte exists for Sims. It's what makes it such a fitting matchup for a Golden Boy show — win and move on, or lose and quickly rebuild if you're really about this life.
The latter is a road that William Zepeda (33-1, 27 KOs) will soon travel.
The previously unbeaten Mexican southpaw suffered a lopsided but spirited defeat to unbeaten three-division titlist Shakur Stevenson (24-0, 11 KOs) on July 12 in Queens, New York. Stevenson, Uncrowned's No. 9 pound-for-pound fighter, admitted after the fight that he was pushed every step of the way by Zepeda, and in one of his more entertaining performances.
'These are the great opportunities for our fighters, as long as they're willing to take the risks,' insisted De La Hoya, a Hall of Fame former six-division champ. 'The way I promote them is the same way I fought. You have to fight the best, you have to take on everyone. It's our job as a promoter to create opportunities. We can create the opportunity, but you have to do the rest.
'Ricardo Sandoval just fought on the other side of the world against one of the best in boxing and now he's coming home as the best. That doesn't happen when you don't take risks. So, we're going to see this weekend who wants it more. I already had my career, I can't get in the ring and fight for you. I wish I could. But you get in the ring, and you either win or lose. It's that simple.'