Oscar Duarte (left) and Mark Bernaldez (right) engage in a traditional staredown during the official weigh-in of their bout in Anaheim, California. | Photo from Sanman Boxing Facebook
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Hard-hitting Mark “Machete” Bernaldez and his opponent Oscar Duarte easily made weight to greenlight their non-title bout on Saturday, June 11 (June 12, Manila Time) at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
Bernaldez and Duarte’s 10-round duel is slated in the undercard of Jaime Munguia versus Jimmy Kelly’s super-middleweight showdown co-promoted by DAZN, Zanfer Promotions, and ProBox Promotions.
During the official weigh-in, Bernaldez of Butuan City, Agusan del Sur, tipped the scales at 135.5 pounds while Duarte weighed in at 136.4lbs for their lightweight battle.
Bernaldez is coming from an eight-month lay-off following his third-round technical knockout loss to Mexican-American prospect Andres Cortes last November in Virgin Hotels, Las Vegas.
The 28-year-old Sanman Boxing Gym prospect has a record of 23 wins, 17 knockouts, and five defeats. He will get his mettle tested by the 26-year-old Duarte, a slugger with a fearsome record of 22-1 (win-loss) with 17 stoppages.
Bernaldez and Duarte already met earlier this week during the fight card presser, and both boxers vowed to treat boxing fans to a highly-entertaining bout.
On paper, Duarte has a slight advantage over Bernaldez.
The Mexican-American is taller with a longer reach advantage than Bernaldez. Duarte stands 5-foot-9 with a reach of 71-inches. Bernaldez, meanwhile, is 5-foot-6 with a 67-inch reach.
Nonetheless, both boxers hold a lot of promise that boxing fans shouldn’t sleep on.
Bernaldez was on a three-fight winning streak from 2020 to 2021 in the United States before his TKO loss to Cortes.
Duarte, on the other hand, is gunning to extend his winning streak to eight. /rcg
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