Brownsville native "El Relampago" Omar Juarez made the 956 proud Saturday night in Las Vegas at The Chelsea inside The Cosmopolitan as he scored a career-best win against touted 140-pound contender Austin Dulay of Nashville, Tennessee. Juarez may have been a bit of his own worst enemy having to overcome three points deducted for low blows. In all, Juarez landed just four low blows. Some were highly questionable. The first appeared to be a result of Juarez having his head pulled down. The third, which resulted in a second-point deduction in the second round appeared to be a legal blow landing right on the beltline. Juarez landed yet another low blow in the fourth, resulting in a third-point deduction. At that point, the RGV native was facing a disqualification loss in a fight that he was in complete control of otherwise. Head Trainer Rick Nunez said, "I told him, don't throw to the body at all. Everything chest and up."
The 23-year-old South Texan heeded the advice of his trainer and stayed upstairs. The young Texan stayed calm and in control of the fight. He controlled his aggression and was able to buckle his outmatched opponent with a right hand in the fifth and then staggered him again with a right-hand moments later. The TheBrownsiville native was in complete control as "El Relampago" struck again in the sixth as he landed a barrage of lightning-quick power shots that had Dulay holding on and in survival mode as Juarez landed a barrage of power punches toward the end of the sixth round. Dulay was able to muster up some offense in the seventh but Juarez regained control in the eighth. Scoring at will with his right hand he was able to walk his man down with power shots. The two stood toe to toe for much of the highly entertaining rounds, perhaps noy knowing what the cards would look like given the three points deducted Juarez opted not to run out the clock.
The cards were academic as Juarez had dominated the bulk of the action and despite the three points deducted the Texan picked up his third consecutive win, This one in unanimous fashion by scores of 96-91 x2 and a much too close 94-93 on the third card. Juarez improved his record to 14-1 (5) and takes a major step forward in getting a world title fight in a now wide-open 140-pound division. The division had all four belts back unified by Josh Tayloe back in 2021. Taylor defended all of them back in February but has since vacated the IBF and WBC belts. The WBC has since been captured by Regis Prograis, who trains with famed trainer Bobby Benton and the Main st. Gym in Houston.
