| |
|
|
Garcia Down In Second Round,
Gets Up To KO Campbell In Seventh
By William Trillo
Photos: Tom Hogan - Hoganphotos/Golden Boy
Lightweight Ryan Garcia (21-0, 18 KO’s) went down in
round two but got to his feet and turned up the heat on
his path to derail a tough as nails Luke Campbell (20-4,
16 KO’s) to earn the interim World Boxing Council World
Light Title.
When Garcia got hit with that left hand that sent him to
the canvas you could hear a pin drop. The crowd was
stunned. How would Ryan react? Campbell had done what no
one had done before and there was plenty of time to move
in for the kill.
To the credit of Garcia not only did he get back to his
feet but he composed himself and made it through a very
difficult round, the most difficult round of his career.
Over the course of the next rounds Garcia would find a
way to get back into the fight as the cobwebs had
cleared. A stunning blow at the end of round five hurt
Campbell who was luckily saved by the bell.
Garcia jumped all over Campbell looking to close the
show at the start of round six but was unable to
complete the job. Campbell would overcome adversity and
was able to stay in the fight.
But in round seven as the two exchanged fierce punches
Garcia dug a left hook to the liver of Campbell who had
no choice but to fall to his knees from the pain of that
shot. Unable to get up Campbell took the ten count. It
was over at the 1:58 mark of round seven.
For Garcia this was a huge victory that will launch him
onto the big stage in 2021. There are a lot of players
out there at 135 pounds and it’s a surefire bet Garcia
will be setting his sites on them in the near future.
“My performance definitely showed a lot of people who I
really am,” said Ryan Garcia. “Going into this fight I
wanted to show people that you are not what people call
you. You are what you choose to be. I chose to be a
champion tonight. I didn’t let anything stop me from
being a champion tonight. Even when he dropped me, I
knew that couldn’t stop me from being champion.”
“I got too excited in the moment,” Garcia said of being
knocked down for the first time. “I felt I could just
walk him down, but he ended up cracking me. So, I had to
adjust and calm down. I was a little dizzy with the
knockdown, but I wasn’t worried. He’s not used to going
forward, so I just knew I had to cover up. He never
fights coming forward, so I knew he would back up
throughout the fight. I’m naturally a counterpuncher.
But today I showed I can take it to somebody and knock
them out. God told me that it would end with a body
shot, and that’s what happened.”
“He’s very heavy handed,” said Luke Campbell. “Even when
I was blocking the shots, I could feel them. That was
the hardest shot I was ever hit with. I tried and tried
to get up, but I couldn’t. I felt him coming on, and I
was moving back. And when I moved back, my body relaxed
a little bit and that’s the exact time he hit me.”
“This is the kind of fight where superstars are made,”
said Oscar De La Hoya, Chairman and CEO of Golden Boy.
“Down on the mat early for the first time in his career,
Ryan got up, rallied, broke down his man and got the
knockout. Everyone in the lightweight division should
consider themselves on notice. 2021 will be the year of
Ryan García.”
Super Featherweights Rene Alvarado (32-9, 21 KO’s) and
Roger Gutierrez (25-3-1, 20 KO’s) gave the fans as an
exciting fight as one could hope for. This was a rematch
of a battle won by Alvarado back in 2017 this grudge
make lived up to the expected fireworks.
Alvarado looked comfortable in the first two rounds but
in a shocking turn of events Gutierrez dropped Alvarado
twice very early in round three. Had Alvarado went down
one more time the fight would have been over. Somehow he
regrouped and weathered the storm to finish the round.
Unexpectedly Alvarado turned the tables on Gutierrez and
suddenly he was taking command of the show. Gutierrez
was bloodied and moving in retreat as the resurging
Alvarado was now in full control.
Going into the championship rounds this was anyone’s
fight to win. In the twelve round A short hook clipped
Alvarado and sent him down once again. Alvarado arose
and the fighters finished on their feet, but that final
knockdown would come back to haunt him.
In a razor thin victory final scores read 113-112 across
the board giving Gutierrez the win an the World Boxing
Association World Super Feather Title.
With one victory each it’s time for a Rubber Match. Let
the Trilogy talks begin!
“I am so happy for this victory,” said Roger Gutierrez.
“I did this for my mother. There’s not much more I can
say. I had to look for the knockout. I knew I had to do
that to win. I want to thank my manager Rafael Moron,
the WBA and Golden Boy. This is for Venezuela and for my
children.”
Light Flyweight Felix Alvarado (36-2, 31 KO’s) is a
human wrecking ball. Just ask DeeJay Kriel (16-2-1, 8
KO’s) who was on the receiving end of a pretty
systematic beat down. Coming out full speed ahead from
the opening bell Alvarado put Kriel on the deck twice in
the first four rounds. Surprisingly though Kriel was
game and gave it his best in the middle rounds.
Momentum switched only momentarily as Alvarado turned up
the heat in round ten. After Kriel took too many
unanswered blows the ref jumped in and stopped the fight
at the 1:39 mark of round ten. With the victory Alvarado
retains his International Boxing Federation World Light
Fly Title.
“I knew this would be a tough fight,” said Felix
Alvarado. “He was a mandatory challenger and a former
world champion, so I knew it would be tough. I got a bit
tired, but that was because of his experience. I also
dropped him with a hook, and I didn’t even expect for a
punch like that to land. But rather than keep looking
for that punch, I kept pushing him to the ropes to wear
him down. I’m very happy to obtain this win because it
is a dream come true for the Alvarado brothers to fight
on the same card.”
It was easy work for Welterweight Raul Curiel (9-0, 7
KO’s) as he pummeled Ramses Agaton (22-13-3, 12 KO’s).
Curiel dropped Agaton with a liver shot in round one and
then followed up in round two with a barrage of punches.
With no hope for a victory Agaton’s corner threw in the
towel at the 1:16 mark of the second round.
“I felt really good and strong,” said Raul Curiel. “I
felt that my opponent was a bit heavy. But I’m happy
that I was able to deliver a great performance. I’m
ready for any opponent that they bring to me at
welterweight.”
Lightweight Sean Garcia (6-0, 2 KO’s) was less than
impressive in his bout with Rene Marquez (5-6, 2 KO’s).
Looking to make an impact Garcia barely squeaked out a
majority decision over the hand picked foe Marquez.
Final scores read 38-38 and 39-37 x 2.
“There were so many things going as we went into this
fight,” said Sean Garcia. “I was a bit nervous. I came
off of a year-and-half layoff. I had to find my
distance. It was also hard to land shots on him because
of his unorthodox style. Now, I just have to keep
training hard and learn from my mistakes.
|
|
|
