Bektemir Melikuziev-Darius Fulghum set for May 30 in Las Vegas
Golden Boy Promotions will return to Las Vegas with a pivotal crossroads bout featuring its top two super middleweights.
BS has confirmed that Bektemir Melekuziev and Darius Fulghum are on course to meet atop a May 30 DAZN show from Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. Golden Boy has a venue hold on the off-strip locale, which is expected to be approved during the next Nevada State Athletic Commission monthly agenda hearing on April 30 at state headquarters in Las Vegas.
The schedule addition puts major shows in town on back-to-back nights. Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) will host a Prime Video quadrupleheader one night later from Michelob ULTRA Arena featuring former titlists Caleb Plant and Jermall Charlo in separate super middleweight bouts.
Wins by Plant and Charlo are expected to lead to their colliding to fight for Plant’s interim WBA super middleweight title.
The winner of Melikuziev-Fulghumcould will head down the path to eventually challenge for that same belt. Melikuziev, 15-1 (10 KOs), and Fulghum, 14-0 (12 KOs), are rated at No. 3 and 4, respectively, at 168lbs by the WBA. The bout is expected to serve as an eliminator of sorts, given Golden Boy’s tight-knit relationship with the sanctioning body.
Uzbekistan’s Melikuziev – who trains out of Joel Diaz’s facility in Indio, California – has won eight in a row and has beaten every opponent he has faced as a pro.
The lone hiccup endured by Melikuziev, a 2016 Olympic silver medalist, was a shocking June 2021 knockout defeat against Gabe Rosado. The setback was avenged less than two years later, when Melikuziev won a landslide 10-round decision.
A 29-year-old southpaw, Melikuziev has since added wins over Alantez Fox, Pierre Dibombe and David Stevens to push closer to title contention.
Houston’s Fulghum has stopped his last two opponents after being extended the 10-round distance twice in a three-fight span.
A 28-year-old contender who holds a nursing degree from Prairie View A&M University, Fulghum has been moved at an aggressive pace in his less than four years as a pro. He was tested in a January 2024 decision win over Fox, which ended a seven-fight knockout streak. He was also taken 10 rounds in a unanimous decision win over Vaughn Alexander last June 27 in Indio.
Fulghum has since rediscovered his home run swing in early knockout victories in his past two starts. He blasted out Chris Pearson inside of three rounds last November 2 at the same arena, then took care of Winfred Harris Jnr. in less than four rounds on February 15 at Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
