Duarte (31-2-1, 23 KOs) survived a scare earlier this month when he outlasted Angel Fierro for a tougher-than-expected split decision win in Las Vegas.

The bout took place even though Fierro was 3.4 pounds overweight for their 140-pound fight. But Duarte couldn’t stomach seeing another fight fall off at the last minute, especially since his February 21 title fight against Richardson Hitchins was cancelled hours before they were supposed to square off once Hitchins fell ill shortly after completing a second-day weigh-in.

Hitchins has since vacated his 140-pound IBF crown, and the IBF is looking to fill the void with a fight between Duarte, ranked No. 3 by the sanctioning body, and Lindolfo Delgado, ranked No. 1 by the IBF. The No. 2 slot is vacant.

But making matters even muddier is that Duarte and Delgado are teammates and have trained together under the same roof for several years with coach Robert Garcia in Southern California.

“I had dinner with Pepe Gomez and Memo Rocha, Duarte’s promoter and manager, and we are all on board that Duarte will not proceed with the IBF route against Lindolfo Delgado – unless Duarte says otherwise,” Garcia told The Ring. “But I don’t see that happening because we work closely together. We all agreed that Duarte will pursue the WBC route for his next title shot.”

That would mean Duarte would eventually go after a bout against Dalton Smith, the current WBC titleholder who saw his June 6 fight against Alberto Puello get scrapped late last month after suffering an injury. Isaac Cruz is the WBC junior welterweight interim titleholder.

For now, Duarte is in store for some much-needed rest after months of non-stop training.

“What affected Duarte in the Fierro fight was that he came in off back-to-back training camps without a break,” said Garcia. “He was overtrained, and that’s why his performance wasn’t as good as we expected. It affected his physical abilities. He got more tired than he should have. I think that was a problem, but he dug deep, sucked it up, and did what was necessary to get the win.”

Garcia said they didn’t mandate Fierro with additional weight stipulations, especially since Fierro was hospitalized in July after another botched weight cut for his rematch against “Pitbull” Cruz.

Garcia was Fierro’s trainer for that fight.

“We couldn’t risk having Fierro get hospitalized again and leave Duarte without a fight, once again,” said Garcia. “But you can see that it was a big difference once the fight started, with one guy having to kill himself to make weight while the other didn’t, as the bigger man.

“I have no doubt Oscar would have beaten Hitchins in February and would be a world champion, just knowing how he was prepared going into that fight.”