Being the aggressor was the path to victory for Miguel Madueno. 

The fringe contender defeated Justin Pauldo by split decision Wednesday night at the Whitesands (also known as the ProBox TV) Events Center in Plant City, Florida. One judge scored the bout 95-94 for Pauldo, while the other two judges scored the bout 97-92 and 95-94 for Madueno, who improved to 31-2, 28 knockouts.

Madueno, who is originally from Guasave, Mexico and now resides in Orange, California, won a WBA regional title belt.

From the opening bell, Madueno fought on his front foot, being the aggressor and initiating exchanges. Despite fighting on his back foot, Pauldo looked to counter, finding success with straight and counter right hands to the head of Madueno. Pauldo began landing right hands to the head of Madueno with more regularity. Undaunted, Madueno continued being the aggressor, but was not effective at cutting off the ring as much as he should have.

About a minute into round five, referee Christopher Young deducted a point from Madueno for hitting Pauldo in the back of the head. Young had warned Madueno a handful of times prior to the point deduction. 

During the second half of the fight, Pauldo effectively outboxed Madueno in spots. There were instances where Madueno was busier, allowing him to connect with lead and counter hooks and crosses to the head and body of Pauldo.

Both fighters had their moments during the eighth round, as they exchanged hooks and crosses against the ropes and later in the round, in a corner. Madueno attempted to walk Pauldo down during the final two rounds, finding little success in getting to engage as Pauldo was content to box from distance.

Madueno last fought on November 14, losing by unanimous decision to fringe junior welterweight contender Steve Claggett. The 25-year-old has now won four of his last five bouts. 

Pauldo, who lives and trains in Houston, Texas, falls to 17-2 1 No Contest, 8 KOs. Pauldo previously fought on November 15, stopping Jerry Perez after the third round. 

The 29-year-old had not lost since July 2015, dropping a split decision to Efrain Cruz. 

In the co-feature, light heavyweight prospect Najee Lopez of Atlanta, Georgia defeated Marcos Escudero by majority decision. 

One judge scored the bout 95-95, while the other two judges scored the bout 97-93 and an inexplicable 99-91 for Lopez, who improved to 10-0, 8 KOs. 

Lopez won the first two rounds of the fight, but Escudero began to outbox Lopez over the next several rounds. Escudero was able to utilize an awkward, but effective style of making Lopez miss, then countering with left hooks that landed to Lopez’s head. Escudero landed several hooks that began to close the right eye of Lopez.

Both fighters stood in the pocket and connected with hooks and crosses, producing crowd-pleasing exchanges during the fifth round. 

Escudero continued to outbox Lopez, finding success in the center of the ring. Sensing he was down on the scorecards, Lopez increased his punch output in round eight, connecting with more regularity. 

Lopez was the more-effective fighter during the final two rounds of the fight. Escudero’s punch output dropped compared to previous rounds, but Lopez was the busier fighter, outlanding Escudero up until the final bell sounded.

The 24-year-old had stopped his previous three opponents, including Yildo Depestre in his previous fight on December 13. 

Escudero, who is originally from Cordoba, Argentina and now resides in Greenacres, Florida, falls to 14-3, 10 KOs. The 30-year-old was victorious in his previous four fights.

In the opening bout of the ProBox TV card, Tsendbataar Erdenebat defeated Mohamed Soumaoro by decision over eight one-sided rounds. Scores were 80-72, 80-72, and 79-73 for Erdenebat, who improved to 9-0, 4 KOs. 

Fighting at a catchweight of 137 pounds, the southpaw Erdenebat effectively outboxed Soumaoro throughout most of the fight. His two and three-punch combinations broke through Soumaoro’s guard, but Erdenebat was effective at finishing most combinations with hooks to the body.

During the fifth round, Erdenebat stunned Soumaoro with a right hook to the head. Moments later, another hook, this time to the body, hurt Soumaoro again, but Soumaoro was able to make it out of the round. 

Soumaoro was game, still trying hard and finding some success, landing lead and straight right hands to the head in round seven. Erdenebat was content during the final two rounds to move in and out of Soumaoro’s range and connect to the head and body.

The 27-year-old, who represented Mongolia in the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, currently resides in the Los Angeles suburb of Paramount. Erdenebat has fought as low as featherweight and as high as 139 pounds.

The 31-year-old Soumaoro, who is originally from Conakry, Guinea and now resides in Montreal, Canada, falls to 14-3, 6 KOs.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]

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