Undefeated super middleweight prospect Darius “DFG – Destined For Greatness” Fulghum (11-0 10 KOs) takes on the most formidable opponent of his young career, Ronald Ellis, next Thursday, June 27th, in a ten-round bout. The main event will occur at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California, and will be streamed live on DAZN.
Ellis (18-4-2, 12 KOs) has wins over Immanuwel Aleem and Matvey Korobov and fought undefeated Junior Youan to a split-decision draw. The thirty-four-year-old orthodox boxer from Lynn, Massachusetts, has three losses to undefeated fighters (Erik Bazinyan, Christian Mbilli, and David Benavidez) who had a combined record of 72-0, 59 KOs, and his other loss was a ten-round majority decision to then one-loss DeAndre Ware. This is Ellis’s fourth consecutive undefeated boxer he has faced.
“Ellis is a credible opponent and is coming to win and re-spark his career, but to me, he is another guy in the way of my dreams,” said Fulghum, who will be fighting in his first main event. “I have put everything into this training camp, and on June 27th, I will emerge as a new name in the super middleweight division.”
The twenty-seven-year-old orthodox boxer from Houston, Texas, has been extremely active, especially nowadays. He has had eleven fights in two and a half years, including six bouts last year. This will be his third fight this year in just six months.
“The primary key for my ring activity is Golden Boy [Promotions]. I make sure that I am ready, but Golden Boy [Promotions] has blessed me with many opportunities to do well. I am one of their top guys, and they know that,” said Fulghum, who signed with Golden Boy Promotions in 2023. “The more I fight, the better I get. After fights, I feel sharper and better in the gym. At the title level, it is tricky, but I am not there yet. I want to keep fighting as often as I can.”
Fulghum has had two dominating victories this year. He obtained the WBA Inter-Continental super middleweight title against Alantez Fox via a ten-round majority decision (100-90, 98-92, and 95-95) in January. Fulghum won ten rounds on one scorecard and eight rounds on the other, beating the best opponent of his young career. He scored a four-round technical knockout over durable veteran Cristian Olivas in his last outing in April (on the undercard of the Devin Haney vs. Ryan Garcia main event). Olivas was stopped for just the second time in his thirty-three bouts.
“My fight with Fox was the first time that I went the distance in my career. Even with an ugly fight, I was calm, composed, and relaxed, and I got rounds in with an experienced veteran who had all the tricks. It was a good experience for me. I learned a lot from this fight,” said Fulghum, who trains daily at 4 Corners Boxing Gym in Houston with his trainer, Darnell Pierce, who he has been with since 2019. “All my previous fights were easy, and I did not get hit a lot, so I did not learn much from them other than preparing for fights.”
He knocked out Pachino Hill in the second round in front of his hometown fans at the Toyota Center in Houston in December 2023. This was the first time that he fought in Houston in his professional career.
“The proudest moment in my pro career was when I fought Hill. When they announced my name, the crowd went wild. It was the first time that I felt what it was like to be a superstar,” said Fulghum, who signed 3 Point Management to be his manager last year. “I performed well and got a second-round stoppage against a durable fighter. I got a lot of love from the fans. It was incredible. I went to see my family after the bout, and there was a long line of fans who wanted to take a picture with me and sign autographs. This was the first time I had ever experienced anything like that.”
Fulghum’s career is off to a good start due to his tremendous work ethic and power (ninety percent knockout ratio, including stopping nine opponents before the end of the fourth round and six before the end of the second). He also demonstrates adaptability, confidence, composure, and ring IQ well beyond his age and fighting experience (he started boxing in his senior year of high school in 2015 and was an amateur fighter for less than six years).
He had an outstanding amateur career as a heavyweight (ranked first in the division), involving 60 fights (50-10). He made the 2020 United States (U.S.) Team Trials after winning the Last Chance Qualifier in 2019 despite being the lowest seed (eighth) in the tournament. He did not compete in the Tokoyo (Japan) Olympics due to COVID-19 (the U.S. team assembled their roster based on ranking points dating back to 2019 when he was not on the team). He won the 2018 National Golden Gloves and placed third at the 2020 Boxam International Tournament. During his amateur career, he went 2-1 against Najee Lopez (10-0, 8 KOs as a light heavyweight in the pros) and Jamar Talley (who is still on the U.S. boxing team and just missed out on making the Paris (France) 2024 Olympics when he lost in the Olympic qualifier).
“Winning the National Golden Gloves was my most significant accomplishment as an amateur. People would think it was me making the Olympic team; however, winning this tournament was the first big one I won in my career,” said Fulghum. “I was dealing with many personal things going into this tournament, and I had a big chip on my shoulder, so I had a lot to prove. I announced myself to the sport by winning this tournament. It was the first time that I was fighting at 201 pounds. Before this tournament, I was fighting at 178 pounds.”
Fulghum’s amateur success is even more impressive, considering that he did most of it while he attended college (he graduated from Prairie View A&M University with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2019). In addition, for most of his amateur career, he weighed around 180 pounds, so he was fighting up a weight division because he did not like to cut weight during these week-long tournaments since he felt drained, did not perform as well, and opened himself up to more injuries.
“I made a lot of sacrifices during my amateur career. I could not attend many of these major tournaments because I could not miss clinics and classes for a week to go to them. I never stopped training during college. I got up at four in the morning to box at the gym, went to class, and was there for most of the day, and then I returned to the gym at night,” said Fulghum, who is fully concentrating on boxing right now, but might pursue nursing when he is done with his professional career. “I got lucky with the 2018 Golden Gloves tournament, and my schedule freed up during the tournament week.”
In addition to his deep amateur background, Fulghum has gained invaluable fighting experience by sparring with several elite boxers, most of whom fight at a higher weight class than he does: WBA cruiserweight champion Gilberto Ramirez (46-1, 30 KOs), former light heavyweight titleholder Oleksandr Gvozdyk (20-2, 16 KOs), WBA super middleweight champion David Morrell (10-0, 9 KOs), heavyweight contender Jared Anderson (17-0, 15 KOs), former super middleweight champion Jose Uzcategui (32-5, 27 KOs), 2020 U.S. silver medalist and heavyweight prospect Richard Torrez Jr. (10-0, 10 KOs), heavyweight contender, Joe Joyce (16-2, 15 KOs), and light heavyweight prospect, Kareem Hackett (12-1, 6 KOs).
Athleticism runs in his family. His older brother, Travis Fulghum, played wide receiver in the NFL for three seasons (2019-2022) with the Detroit Lions, Philadelphia Eagles, and Denver Broncos. He joined the BC Lions in the Canadian Football League this year.
For more information about his boxing career and upcoming fights, friend him on Twitter (rebranded as X), Facebook, and Instagram @DariusFulghum.
“I will try to get three to four more fights this year. At this point, it is about positioning. This is the building and learning phase. Hopefully, I will be in a position at the end of this year or early next year for an elimination fight or a significant bout. I am taking it one step at a time,” said Fulghum. “My job is to be ready for whoever they put in front of me, which is what I am doing. I do not call out anyone unless they are a champion, and right now, I am not in a place to fight for a world title. I am extremely blessed and happy with how my career is going thus far. I have two wins this year, so the year is off to a great start.”