LOS ANGELES (August 30, 2023) – Undefeated prospect Darius “DFG” Fulghum (6-0, 6 KOs) will experience a few firsts on September 16th in his toughest test to date during his young professional career versus veteran Mexican fighter Ricardo Adrian “Tyson” Luna (25-10-2, 16 KOs) at Commerce Casino and Hotel in Los Angeles.
The 26-year-old Fulghum, who is a promotional free agent, will be fighting in L.A. for the first time in his first scheduled eight-round bout.
“I’m excited to be fighting on a good card on DAZN,” Fulghum commented. “I’ve built a good network there (in LA at Brickhouse Boxing Club in North Hollywood) and I’ll have a lot of people coming from home (Texas), too.
“Nothing really changes in training (preparing for his first eight-rounder at a lighter weight). Every time I had a four or six round fight, I prepared for it like it was a 12-round fight. Same for this fight but with even more focus.”
Luna has become a “gatekeeper” having fought top prospects at various stages of their respective careers such as (16-0) Albert Ramirez, (19-0) Diego Pacheco, (30-0) Eric Bazinyan and (16-3) Ryota Murata. Luna’s most notable fight was a draw with 21-2 Vyacheslav Shabranskyy.
“I’m not putting pressure on myself to get a knockout,” Fulghum said, “Every fighter will tell you, if a knockout comes, it comes. My style is wear-and-tear to breakdown my opponent. Will I take a knockout? Yes, but I’m not planning for it.”
Fulghum will be fighting for his fourth time in five months, a pace that perfectly suits “DFG” as he transitions from light heavyweight to super middleweight, fighting Luna at a 172-pound catchweight.
“I’d like to ramp it up even more because it builds my experience,” Fulghum explained his accelerated pace of development. “I haven’t suffered any damage in my fights and I’m always in the gym training.”
A licensed nurse in Texas with a degree from Prairie View A & M University, Fulghum was a decorated amateur boxer, ranked No. 1 in the USA as a heavyweight, despite fighting as a light heavyweight/super middleweight as a pro. He captured top honors at the 2018 National Golden Gloves Tournament and 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials. All of his amateur accomplishments were achieved while he attended college.
Fulghum is working with 3 Point Management (3 PM), a growing company based in Los Angeles that has a growing stable of gifted boxers including former world super middleweight champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (44-1, 30 KOs), NABA super flyweight champion John “Scrappy” Ramirez (12-0, 8 KOs), light heavyweight Kareem Hackett (12-0, 6 KOs), super middleweight Cem “Champ” Kilic (17-1, 11 KOs), and heavyweight Zach Spiller (3-0, 2 KOs).