In the first installment of the Golden Boy Fight Night on DAZN show of 2024, Jesus Perez scored a career-defining victory over former 130-pound titleholder Joseph “JoJo” Diaz Jr. on Thursday. The 10-round junior welterweight main event was a war from start to finish with Diaz Jr. suffering a point deduction in the fifth round when he pushed Perez out of the ring. The judges scored the close fight 95-45, 94-96, and 90-99, awarding the split decision victory to Perez. The event took place at The Commerce Casino & Hotel and was broadcast worldwide on DAZN.

Jesus Perez took it to JoJo Diaz with heavy hands from the opening round. Photo: Golden Boy / Cris Esqueda

“The work was shown tonight,” said Perez (25-5, 18 KOs) of Tijuana, Mexico. “I – like all fighters – had to push through difficult times, but we were able to push through to be able to get the victory tonight. My ultimate respect to JoJo Diaz, he is a warrior. I thought because he was the favorite, that he was going to win this close fight, but we didn’t stop and we fought for our dreams to come true.”

“I won the fight. This is getting unfair now!” said Diaz (33-5-1, 15 KOs) of South El Monte. “I train so hard for my fans. Thank you all!”

Diaz clapped back against Perez with jarring punches of his own. Photo: Golden Boy / Cris Esqueda

In the co-main event, Fort Lauderdale, Florida’s Eric Tudor (10-1, 6 KOs) made a redemptive return in a six-round junior middleweight fight against Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico’s Luis Ramos (6-3-1, 6 KOs). The fight went the distance, with judges scoring the fight unanimously in favor of Tudor with all three scores 80-72. Also on the DAZN broadcast, San Diego’s Jorge “El Niño Dorado” Chavez (10-0, 7 KOs) participated in a six-round, featherweight slugfest against tough fighter Diuhl “Elegante” Olguin (16-35-7, 10 KOs) of Guadalajara, Mexico. Chavez overcame adversity, taking a knockdown in the first round. The back-and-forth action went the distance, the judges awarding Chavez the unanimous decision victory with scores of 58-55, 60-54, and 58-55.

In a four-round lightweight fight, Moreno Valley, Calif.’s Joshua Garcia (7-0, 4 KOs) measured up against local Los Angeles native Eric Lozada (1-1-1). The fight was cut short, with Garcia throwing a right hand at 1:45, stopping the fight in the first round. Opening fight night and the DAZN broadcast with a four-round middleweight fight, Sasha Tudor (0-0-1) of Fort Lauderdale, Florida went up against Josias Gonzalez (2-2) of Jalisco, Mexico. The fight went to the judges’ scorecards, who saw it as a split draw with scores of 38-38, 37-39 in favor of Gonzalez, and 39-37 in favor of Sasha Tudor.

SUBSCRIBE NOW (CLICK HERE - JUST $1.99 PER MONTH) TO READ THE LATEST ISSUE