Darius Fulghum Battles Injuries, Reveals Vaughn Alexander in Dark Story

Darius Fulghum also settled for a win this time, hopefully he will look good in his next fight.

The undefeated 27-year-old super middleweight worked hard to win a ten-round decision over the late Vaughn Alexander. The scores were 98-92, 98-92 and 99-91 for Fulghum (12-0, 10 knockouts) in his first DAZN main event on Thursday from the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California.

Alexander took the fight on very short notice due to the illness of Ronald Ellis (18-4-2, 12 KOs). Fulghum struggled in poor style and pushed through a hand injury he sustained in the early rounds.

“It was a great experience to go the distance against Vaughn,” noted Fulghum. “Anyone who knows him knows that he is a strong person. I injured my hand during the fight so we worked with what we had and we are very happy that we were able to get the win.

“The best part about speaking was my family and friends in the crowd singing “DFG.”

The worst part, unfortunately, was the battle itself.

Alexander (18-12-1, 11 KOs) long ago reached the status of a journeyman, although he was always ready to move around. To his credit, he arrived fit and ready to fight when the need arose to keep the show going. Fulghum had little trouble dealing with the 38-year-old Saint Louis native in the first half of the contest.

The next five rounds were very competitive as Alexander opted to throw punches. He enjoyed modest success with his right hand up, while Fulghum was content to box and nurse his injured hand with a comfortable lead.

It was Fulghum’s second stoppage in three starts, following a nine-fight winning streak to start his career. He went ten rounds with Alantez Fox (28-6-1, 13 KOs) on the undercard of Jan. 27 DAZN in Phoenix, Arizona. It was in bad style, as was Thursday’s main event.

The co-feature didn’t do much to impress the crowd, either. Tristan Kalkreuth (14-1, 10 KOs) went the distance of ten rounds with a points victory over Anthony Hollaway (7-5-3, KOs) in the cruiserweight championship. The scores were 99-91 for Kalkreuth in his second fight under 2023 Coach of the Year Brian ‘Bomac’ McIntyre.

At least the first undercard offered fan-friendly action.

Cayden Griffiths (1-0, 1 KO) enjoyed a successful pro debut with a second-round knockout of Mexicali’s Juan Manuel Bautista (0-1, 0 KO). The fight made it to primetime television because of the lack of a roster. Middleweight prospect Eric Priest (13-0, 8 KOs) was pulled from the program when his opponent, Janer Gonzalez (21-6-1, 17 KOs), was unable to continue the fight.

Arizona’s Griffiths took full advantage of this opportunity. He was forced to wait until his 18th birthday to turn pro but found a home audience for the event. He scored knockdowns in the first and second rounds, with a stoppage at 0:43 of the second round.

Local junior middleweight Grant Flores (5-0, 4 KOs) scored a third-round knockout against Josias Gonzalez (2-3-1) of Whittier, CA. A left hook to the body forced Gonzalez to the canvas, ending the fight at 2:34 of the third round. Flores was paired with fellow WBA 154-pound titlist Israel Madrimov; the two lived together.

Undefeated Leonardo Sanchez (7-0, 4 KOs) stopped Filipino Jenel Lausa (11-4-1, 7 KOs) in the fourth round of Manila, Philippines. Sanchez—a native of Cathedral City—took Lausa down twice in the third round and Lausa took him down twice in the third round to close out the match at 1:08 of the fourth.

Tijuana’s Brandon Sanchez (9-0, 8 KOs) went deep in the early fights but still took matters out of the judge’s hands. The two-fight bout ended with Filipino MJ Bo (9-8-2, 5 KOs) going down and out at 2:10 of the fifth round at featherweight.

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