Duarte Returns After Year Layoff to Fight Cisneros

Former North American Boxing Federation bantamweight champion Frankie Duarte, who has not fought since a successful title defense 366 days ago, returns to action tonight at the Country Club in Reseda against Ron Cisneros of Denver in a scheduled 10-round bout.

Duarte retained his NABF crown last June with a bloody and controversial 10th-round TKO over Albert Davila at the Forum. He was stripped of the title by the NABF for refusing to defend it.

Duarte had been scheduled to fight World Boxing Assn. bantamweight champion Wilfredo Vasquez on June 25 at the Country Club, but that tentative agreement was nullified when Vasquez was beaten in May by Khaokor Galaxy of Thailand.

Cisneros, who was beaten by Duarte in 1985 on an eighth-round TKO, is coming off a sixth-round knockout last month of George Evans of Albany, Ore.

Duarte is 42-7-1 with 32 knockouts. Cisneros is 27-19-1 with 18 knockouts.

On the undercard, Young Dick Tiger, 22-4 with 16 knockouts and ranked No. 12 among welterweights by the World Boxing Council, takes on Jaime Montano (26-5, 26 knockouts) in a scheduled 10-round bout.

The card begins at 7 p.m. The Duarte-Cisneros fight will be televised by the ESPN cable network.