Danny Garcia took care of business as was expected at the Staples Center, Los Angeles, but had to remain on his toes against a relentless, highly durable Robert Guerrero. Garcia was simply the better all-round, more refined fighter, and proved his ability to adapt after struggling somewhat with Guerrero’s high pressure assault in the opening rounds.
All three official scorecards came in at a baffling 116-112 (maybe a couple of rounds were close, but Garcia was the general in this one without doubt). Boxing Base saw it 119-109, and short of calling a few other boxing scribes, I wouldn’t be surprised if many other observers were perplexed by the ringside judges’ scores. Still, it’s in the history books, and Garcia is rightly the WBC’s new Welterweight champ (well, due to the actual result anyway).
Garcia now improves to 32 wins, no defeats, 18 knockouts, while Guerrero drops to 33 wins, 4 defeats, 1 draw, 18 knockouts. Catch PBC’s Garcia vs Guerrero Highlights below.
While Guerrero’s effort was inspiring, making the contest absorbing until the final bell, his undoing was the inability to switch game plan and pose any serious questions. Guerrero is a little one-dimensional – albeit extremely fan-friendly – and so you have to wonder how many more high profile fights he’s going to be offered. If anything, he’s starting to resemble a solid gatekeeper-type, and so, you never know, maybe we’ll see him serving as an acid test for an esteemed startup like Errol Spence Jr in 2016?
Anyway, this was Garcia’s night. During the first few rounds I wondered if Guerrero’s hard work would trump Garcia’s talent, but it soon became apparent Guerrero didn’t have enough in his repertoire to truly bust his man up. Garcia landed the crisper, heavier blows, and seemed to land almost at will during the second half of the fight. How Guerrero took those crunching, head-snapping punches without wobbling, let alone becoming dispirited, I do not know.
Guerrero let his hands fly in the closing thirty seconds of the 12th, forcing Garcia to enter into a ferocious toe-to-toe exchange. Yet again, it seemed like Garcia landed with the better work, but you can’t fault Guerrero for leaving everything in the ring. All in all, this Welterweight affair was a far better than expected scrap. But yeah, it’s time for Garcia to actually face a Top 10 147-pounder now.
On the Garcia vs Guerrero undercard, undefeated Sammy Vasquez Jr proved to be too much for Aron Martinez, retiring his man after the 6th round. The reason for Martinez pulling out may have been due to a hand or arm injury, although it seemed to make little difference since Martinez was never really in this fight. Vasquez, who improves to 21 wins, 15 knockouts, now moves closer to a Welterweight world title shot, while Martinez falls to 20 wins, 5 defeats, 1 draw, 4 knockouts.
In the bout prior, Heavyweight prospect Dominic Breazeale proved his toughness by getting off the deck in a torrid 3rd round to fight back and retire a charged up Amir Mansour after the 5th round. Mansour, who more than earned his money, claimed to have suffered a broken jaw at the hands of the 6’ 7” Breazeale. Mansour leaves with 22 wins, 2 defeats, 1 draw, 16 knockouts, while Breazeale remains undefeated with 17 wins and 15 knockouts.
Give us your take on Garcia vs Guerrero, where Danny Garcia goes from here, plus Breazeale’s chances of hanging with titans Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder in the near future.
