Raul Curiel made the most of his salvaged showcase opportunity Friday by beating late replacement Jordan Panthen in a competitive clash at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, California, to headline a Golden Boy Promotions show on DAZN.

Curiel was originally scheduled to face Alexis Rocha in a rematch following their firefight and majority draw in December 2024, but the latter was forced to pull out Thursday after he was hospitalized due to issues with cutting weight.

Instead of a sequel featuring a pair of top-10 welterweight contenders, Curiel (17-0-1, 14 KOs) settled for a risky 10-round, 158-pound catchweight clash against the cowboy-turned-contender Panthen (11-2, 9 KOs).

“The Patriot” Panthen, draped in red, white and blue hues, gave Curiel a stiff test that was ultimately passed with flying colors.

Judges scored the contest 98-92, 97-93 and 97-93 in favor of Curiel. According to CompuBox, Curiel outlanded the gritty Panthen 205-174. Pantheon threw 682 punches compared with 489 from Curiel.

“It was a tremendous fight for the people,” Curiel said in the ring after the fight. “I respect Jordan. He’s a warrior who fought all 10 rounds, and I enjoyed every round, but I was feeling the weight in my first fight at middleweight. I’m strong, and we went toe to toe, but I can feel the weight. I hope we get a world title shot when I go back down to welterweight.”

Panthen quickly proved he wasn’t going to be just a live body to keep Curiel busy by applying pressure with a workmanlike approach. Panthen leaned on his size advantage in the first two rounds to show that it wasn’t going to be a cakewalk for Curiel.

Curiel circumvented the larger, strong, sturdy and sneaky good Panthen on the inside with speed by increasingly connecting with crisp countershots and bruising body shots in the third and fourth rounds.

Although Panthen proved to be the busier fighter in a tough and physical fight, Curiel started pulling away from the stalemate between Rounds 5-8 with accuracy and a dedicated attack to the body.

When Panthen overextended himself with aggression, Curiel was accurately hammering the stationary target at will and taking the wind out of his sails.

Both showed off strong chins until Curiel clearly separated himself in the ninth by staggering and wobbling Panthen with a four-shot combination that was capped with a head-rattling right hand. Panthen was hurt but never came close to tasting the canvas.

Curiel continued applying pressure in the 10th and cut Panthen’s right eye with a left hook.

Curiel, a 2016 Mexican Olympian coached by reigning Trainer of the Year Robert Garcia, is ranked No. 8 by The Ring at 147 pounds.

“I’ll be here for whoever wants to fight me, I’ll fight anyone,” said Curiel, adding that he’s still open to reigniting a Rocha rematch once his rival is healthy.

The loss marked the second in a row for Panthen, who os trained by Ronnie Shields. In July, he dropped a majority decision to Farid Ngoga.

In the co-main event, Jorge Chavez (15-0-1, 8 KOs) beat Manny Flores (20-2-1, 16 KOs) in a rematch by unanimous decision in yet another back-and-forth fight after their first meeting in June finished in a majority draw. Judges scored the 10-round contest 96-94, 97-93, 98-92 in favor of Chavez, who outlanded Flores 182-145.

In other action, fast-rising junior welterweight Ruslan Abdullaev (4-0, 2 KOs) stopped Eduardo Javier Abreu (14-2, 2, 10 KOs) in five rounds.

Welterweight prospect Cayden Griffiths (7-0, 6 KOs) heard the final bell for the first time in his two-year career by dropping Lesther Espino (10-8, 8 KOs) in a six-round shutout decision win.

Joel Iriarte's bout against Jireh De Los Santos was scrapped at the last minute after the latter refused to take the fight, as well as additional compensation. Iriarte missed weight Thursday.

DAZN's Chris Mannix reported that the deeply religious De Los Santos told Golden Boy Promotions that “God told him in his prayers that it was not safe to fight.”

Iriarte weighed 150.4 pounds Friday, and De Los Santos tipped the scales at 145.8.