Unified Super Lightweight World Champion Danny “Swift” Garcia (28-0, 16 KOs) defeated Mauricio “El Maestro” Herrera (20-4, 7 KOs) via a majority decision to remain undefeated on Saturday night in front of a sold-out crowd at Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez in Bayamon, Puerto Rico on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING®.
Garcia established himself in the first round, landing the bigger punches against Herrera. But it was quickly clear that the challenger wasn’t going to let Garcia off easy, peppering the champion with strong shots to his body and head. By the end of round four, Garcia’s corner, specifically his father and trainer, Angel Garcia, could be heard telling the champion urgently to step-up his game and take control. Herrera, of Riverside, Calif., pressed on and proved himself as a worthy opponent with both fighters exchanging vicious shots throughout the extremely close match.
With the raucous crowd partial to the defending champion, whose father was born and raised in Puerto Rico, Garcia seemed to be carried by the cheers in what turned out to be the toughest fight of his career. At the end of the fight, SHO STATS reported that Garcia had landed 150 power punches compared to Herrera’s 82. Herrera landed more overall punches with 221 to Garcia’s 204. The final scores were 114-114, 116-112 and, 116-112.
After the fight, Garcia spoke with SHOWTIME Sports® ringside reporter Jim Gray, saying, “He is a crafty veteran and I know every time I step in the ring, every fighter wants what I have. So I expect them to bring everything. I had to make adjustments and I had to push the fight. He is a good fighter but I am a true champion. I had to make adjustments and pull it out. I needed to find my comfort zone but once I adjusted and got him on the ropes I knew I was doing good. I had to keep my composure and use my power shots. He came to fight and he did and it was a great fight.”
When asked if he felt he did enough to win the close decision, Garcia said, “I wanted to knock him out in front of my fans but he was tough. I know nothing is going to be easy from this point on for the rest of my career. I thought I won the fight. The Puerto Rican fans here support me. I love them.”
Regarding a potential move up in weight, Garcia told Gray, “I think making 140 pounds might have affected my performance a little bit. I need to sit with my camp and see if I should go up to 147 and start a new journey. It’s been getting a little hard so maybe I need to think about moving up.”
After the fight, Herrera told media that he felt he won. “I thought I was fine-tuned,” he said. “I came perfectly prepared for this fight. I was trying to push the fight. I came to box but he wasn’t making a fight so I am the one that had to make the fight. I was the one putting the pressure on to make the fight. I feel like I won the fight. I thought I finished strong at the end too. I thought I won the fight.”
Heavyweight Deontay Wilder made it 31 for 31 in the knockout department has he stopped Malik Scott in a scheduled 12 round bout.
Wilder landed a left to the temple that was followed up by a right hand that sent Scott to the canvas. Scott tried to get up but stumbled at the count of ten of the fight was over at 1:36 of round one.
Wilder, 227 lbs of Tuscaloosa, AL is 31-0 with 31 knockouts. Scott, 238 lbs of Van Nuys, CA is 36-2-1.
After the fight, Wilder spoke with Grayabout his performance. “I’ve got power. I’ve got natural power. This is something that you can’t buy. This is something that you can’t enhance and put in your body. This is all natural pure Alabama power. The left hand was right to the temple, to the head, and that is a soft spot. My power is crazy. I go through the gloves. Even though he had his gloves, there is nothing stopping that. Even though it went through his glove it still hurts.”
When asked if he is ready to take a step up and fight for a heavyweight title despite having not faced the top fighters in the division, Wilder responded, “All the testing is done in the gym. I bust my butt off in the gym to come here and perform for all the people and I make it look easy. I don’t care if I don’t go past four rounds or solve all the questions that people have about me. I have one mission and it is to unify all the heavyweight belts.”
After the fight Scott, upset by his performance, said, “I got caught. I don’t really remember what happened because I never saw the shot coming. I know he caught me with the left hook. I am so disappointed. I trained really hard. It is just awful.
In what turned out to be a highly entertaining rematch of former world champion, Juan Manuel Lopez made it two for two against Daniel Ponce De Leon in by scoring a 2nd round stoppage in a scheduled 10 round Jr. Lightweight bout.
De Leon struck 1st in round two by scoring a knockdown from a hard left hook. Lopez came back by depositing De Leon from a right hook. A flurry sent De Leon to the canvas for a 2nd time. Lopez finished the fight by landing some hard power shots on the ropes and the bout was stopped at 2:44 of round two.
Lopez, 129 lbs of Caguas, PR is now 34-3 with 31 knockouts. De Leon, 128 3/4 lbs of West Covina, CA is now 45-6.
Former world title challenger Daniel Jacobs took out Milton Nunez in round one of their scheduled 10 round Middleweight bout.
Jacobs scored three knockdowns from a left hook and the latter two came from right hands. The bout was stopped upon the third knockdown at 2:25 of round one.
Jacobs, 161 1/2 lbs of Brooklyn, NY is now 27-1 with 24 knockouts. Nunez, 162 lbs of Barranquilla, COL is now 26-10-1.