The junior welterweight contender nonetheless left the ring victorious over fellow Mexican Angel Fierro. Duarte won what he admitted was a close 12-round bout by split decision and admonished Fierro for coming in 3.4 pounds overweight Friday on the pay-per-view portion of the David Benavidez-Gilberto Ramirez undercard.

Judges David Sutherland and Steve Weisfeld both scored Duarte a 116-112 winner, while Patricia Morse Jarman had it 115-113 for Fierro.

Most sportsbooks listed Duarte (31-2-1, 23 KOs) as at least a 10-1 favorite to defeat Fierro (23-5-2, 18 KOs), but the stubborn underdog gave Duarte much more trouble than the odds suggested he would. Much of the crowd booed loudly as Jim Gray interviewed an unfazed Duarte following his narrow win.

“He came in heavier, and I was the one pressing, putting pressure,” Duarte said. “I thought I won this fight. This was a good fight. Fierro is a great fighter. I respect him, but I won this fight. I went forward, pressed the action and landed the best shots in a competitive fight. I always had the confidence that I was going to win. The fans enjoyed the fight, and that motivates me even more to give them another war next time.”

Defeating Fierro was especially satisfying for Duarte given the frustrating circumstances he overcame the past two-plus months.

Richardson Hitchins, then the IBF junior welterweight champ, withdrew from their title fight the morning they were supposed to fight February 21 at T-Mobile Arena. Duarte’s title shot wasn’t rescheduled and Hitchins (20-0, 8 KOs), who said he was ill, later gave up his IBF belt to compete in the welterweight division.

Fierro, 27, then came in egregiously overweight Friday for what was contracted as a 140-pound contest. A disappointed Duarte, 30, moved forward with their fight after accepting a $40,000 penalty from Fierro’s purse, because he didn’t want to waste a second straight training camp.

Apparently aware that their fight would be close on the cards, Duarte attacked Fierro as soon as the 12th round began and kept his opponent on his back foot for much of the final three minutes of action.

Fierro fought back more than enough to prevent Duarte from gaining too much momentum and jumped on the ropes after the final bell sounded to indicate he thought he won.

A right-left combination by Duarte drove Fierro toward the ropes with just over a minute remaining in the 10th round. Duarte was the aggressor again by that point in the fight after navigating some troublesome moments in the sixth and seventh.

Duarte’s left hook to the body forced Fierro to move away from him with about a minute to go in the ninth round. Fierro recovered relatively quickly, and by the end of the ninth had stood his ground and exchanged with Duarte.

Fierro affected Duarte with several hard rights that put the favorite on his back foot in the first half of the seventh round. Duarte rallied before a violent exchange energized Fierro and helped him take control in the final minute of the seventh.

Referee Mark Nelson warned Duarte for pushing Fierro to the canvas with just over 1:40 on the clock in the sixth round. Fierro staggered Duarte with several rights that left Duarte holding him toward the end of the sixth.

Duarte drilled Fierro with a left hook that wobbled him just before the bell sounded to end the fourth round. Two more punches by Duarte – a left and a hard right – landed after the bell rang and knocked Fierro and Nelson to the canvas.

Nelson didn’t deduct a point from Duarte for that obvious foul. He instead warned him before the fifth round started.

Fierro fought for the first time since he was disqualified for kicking Abraham Cordero in the groin during the third round of their fight October 4 in Tijuana. He pulled out of his previously scheduled bout, a rematch with WBA 140-pound champ Isaac Cruz, on July 18 – the day they were supposed to weigh in for their rematch on the Manny Pacquiao-Mario Barrios undercard the next night at nearby MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Jose “Tito” Sanchez dropped Jorge Chavez twice late in the 10th round of their highly entertaining junior featherweight fight and beat his rival by technical knockout in the bout before Duarte defeated Fierro.

A right-left-right-left combination by Sanchez knocked Chavez flat on his back with 56 seconds to go in their fan-friendly firefight. Chavez barely beat referee Allen Huggins’ count and didn’t stay upright for long.

A right uppercut by Sanchez knocked the dazed Chavez face first into the two middle ropes several seconds later. Huggins quickly stopped the action at 2:30 of the 10th round.

Sanchez (16-0, 10 KOs), of Cathedral City, California, led by one point, 86-85 apiece, on the cards of judges Eric Cheek and Max De Luca entering the 10th round. San Diego’s Chavez (15-1-1, 8 KOs) was ahead by the same score, according to judge Tim Cheatham.

Sanchez and Chavez wowed an appreciative crowd in the previous round, when they engaged in a furious exchange that lasted more than a minute. That sequence captured the competitive nature of a fight that justified odds that were essentially even.