BONSUBRE: WILL ROMERO DUNO CONTINUE TO THRIVE UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT?
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 19 May 2018
He is not yet a household name here in the Philippines but Romero Duno continues his streak in the U.S. when he came up on top in a slugfest against Mexican Gilberto Gonzalez at the Fantasy Springs Resort in Indio, California.
Duno, fighting out of the Sanman Gym, had former WBC light flyweight world champ Rodel Mayol as his chief cornerman and Philboxing correspondent Dr. Edgardo dela Vega as his cutman for his debut as a headliner on a Golden Boy Promotions fight card which was televised on ESPN.
Duno was signed by Oscar dela Hoya?s Golden Boy Promotions last year after his second round knockout victory over Golden Boy prospect Christian Gonzalez in Los Angeles.
Since then Duno made two appearances in California, beating Juan Pablo Sanchez by unanimous decision and knocking out in a single round Yardley Armenta Cruz.
In his fourth fight in the U.S., Duno was matched up against a different, much tougher Gonzalez. Gilberto , nicknamed ?El Flaco? was also a tall southpaw.
But Gonzalez? Mexican pedigree and slugger?s instincts immediately kicked in during the opening round as they traded hard shots at close range. Duno missed wildly and had the tendency to overreach.
Trainer Mayol made the necessary adjustments, advising Duno to be economical and not leave his feet behind when punching.
Gonzalez was dropped by a one-two combo from Duno in the second, but was ruled a slip because their feet got tangled during the exchange. The Mexican was bleeding from an accidental headbutt when the round ended and both boxers continued to exchange power shots in the subsequent rounds.
Duno began to build an edge due to his accuracy and power punches landed. Round six was classic phonebooth warfare. Duno got briefly staggered but showed a lot of heart when he immediately fired back and hurt Gonzalez with a body punch.
As the fight progressed, Gonzalez?s face was swollen on the right cheekbone, and was bleeding from cuts. A testament to Duno?s edge in punches landed.
But Gonzalez remained dangerous and also showed his Mexican warrior heart. But Duno closed the show, again hurting Gonzalez in the tenth with a hard uppercut.
The scores read 97-93,97-93 and 98-92 all for Duno.
The 30 year old Gonzalez (26W-5L,22KO?s) lost for the second straight time to a Filipino, having been beaten by Mercito Gesta last year also by unanimous decision in Las Vegas.
The 22 year old Duno is now 17W-1L,14KO?s. Most of his fights in the Philippines were in General Santos City and if you know your boxing history, you know Gensan is a fertile breeding ground for boxing champions.
?I hope I gave the fans a great fight. Gonzales is very tough and a good boxer,? stated Duno through an e-mail sent by Sanman Promotions.
He has acquitted himself well in his debut as a main event fighter in the U.S. He remains a work in progress but has shown continuing improvement. It seems Mayol and Duno have established a good relationship and their partnership could lead to a world title shot in the near future.
Duno fights in the lightweight division and the world title holders are WBO champ Raymundo Beltran of Mexico, IBF champ Robert Easter of the U.S.,
WBC champ Mikey Garcia of the U.S. and WBA champ Vasyl Lomachenko of the Ukraine.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rene Bonsubre, Jr..
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