LAS VEGAS – Raul Curiel has experienced better fight weeks than one marked by missing weight and dealing with a frustrating foe.
Pushing through the obstacles to gain a majority decision victory Saturday night at Virgin Hotels Resort Casino, Curiel, 18-0-1, emerged with a triumph by scores of 95-95 (judge Chris Migliore), 97-93 (John McCarthy) and 100-90 (Patricia Morse Jarman).
“This is learning. It’s all about lessons,” Curiel said. “I’ve got an amazing team and they always warn me so I’m going to keep working. This is a great lesson today, so I’ll keep working, and I know I’m going to be world champion one day.”
Curiel blew the opportunity to defend his NABF welterweight belt by missing weight by more than one pound Friday.
After recently elevating to No. 1 in the WBA rankings, Mexico-born Curiel, who trains at the talent-rich Robert Garcia Boxing Academy in Southern California, didn’t immediately distinguish himself against Texas’ Randall.
Directed a bit from the TNT broadcast perch by analyst and retired five-division champion Terence Crawford, Randall had success by remaining in front of Curiel, relying on his hand speed to complicate Curiel’s night.
Curiel’s more rugged effort set scoring rights in the eighth, and he jarred Randall’s head with a hard right during the round.
“Pushing back, getting the pressure on him was so important, because if i had let him keep boxing, it was going to be more complicated for me,” Curiel said. “We followed the instructions in the corner. It was a hard fight, but thank God, I won.”
Curiel will bide his time waiting to see who wins the WBA title fight between champion Rolly Romero and two-division champion Teofimo Lopez.
“Whoever gives me the opportunity. I’ve got a great team with me. Whoever they tell me, I’ll fight,” Curiel said.
Charles Conwell started “The Fight” card with a ninth-round TKO of Paul Kroll
Conwell, 22-1 (17 KOs), was the immediate pursuer, and his attack netted dividends by backing Kroll, 12-1-2, in the second round, then rocking him and sending him falling to the ropes in the third to gain a knockdown.
Intent to both dig to the body and hunt the head, Conwell’s aggression showed he’d adapted effectively since his previous bout.
Cleveland’s Conwell was coming off an April 2025 loss by the thinnest of margins to Mexico’s Jorge Garcia Perez, which fully revealed how fighters’ fortunes can change by the sliver of a scoring pencil.
Perez went on from that triumph to land a 154lbs title shot at Xander Zayas, while Conwell had been on the shelf since.
Conwell’s superiority saw him rock Kroll with a power blow to the jaw, closing the sixth, and then he roughed up Kroll so intently in the eighth that referee Robert Hoyle warned the fading Kroll to respond well or risk a stoppage.
Conwell seized on that, relentlessly throwing power punches, a hard uppercut finally a combination that produced the ending at 2:38 of the ninth.
Earlier, Golden Boy’s lightweight prospect Dylan Capetillo was shockingly knocked out late in the third round of his third pro fight by Tijuana’s Juan Carlos Becerril.
A thunderous left hand by Becerril, 3-0 (2 KOs), sent Capetillo, 17, crashing backward to the canvas, the back of his head smashing to the canvas. Capetillo was up by referee Thomas Taylor’s count of nine.
But when Taylor asked Capetillo, “Are you OK?” Taylor wasn’t satisfied with the response and waved the fight over, with Capetillo’s corner expressing appreciation considering the years ahead of him.
The irony is that Las Vegas’ Capetillo 2-1 flashed his sudden power, setting up a hard left to the head with a rapid right that knocked down Becerril in the second round.
Unbeaten Golden Boy Promotions prospect Joel Iriarte gained his 10th knockout in 11 fights when referee Tony Weeks stopped opponent Jorge Lagunas 19-10 late in the eighth and final round.
Iriarte, from Bakersfield, Calif., sent a finishing attack toward Lagunas and Weeks, not satisfied with Lagunas’ responses from a round earlier, waved the fight over.
Bantamweight prospect Gael Cabrera 12-0 of Mexico endured a sturdy effort from veteran Francisco Pedroza Portillo 20-15-2, emerging with a unanimous-decision victory (79-73, 79-73, 80-72) against a 37-fight veteran who’s only been knocked out twice.
Fabian Guzman, an unbeaten middleweight from Orange, California, improved to 11-0, defeating Aaron Coley, 17-6-2, on the scorercards, 78-74, 78-74, 79-73.
Hawaii lightweight Dalis Kaleiopu, 9-0 (7 KOs), opened the card by recording his third consecutive first-round knockout, finishing Dominican Republic’s Yerery Castillo 2:37 into the opening frame as Castillo suffered his third consecutive setback.
