BROOKLYN–Keith Thurman took a split decision from Danny Garcia to retain his WBA and win the WBC Welterweight titles in front of 16.533 boisterous fans at Barclays Center.
The fight did not have the action that the pre-fight hype signified that there would be, but it was a close competitive fight at a high level.
Early on it looked to be a slugfest as there were several toe to toe instances for which both had their moments. The fight turned into a chess match with Thurman looking to move around and pick his spots to engage. He built up a nice lead and then decided to step up his moving to more of a track meet and almost gave away the fight as two judges ruled in favor of Thurman by 116-112 and 115-113 scores while Garcia took a card 115-113.
Thurman, 146.2 lbs of Clearwater, FL is 28-0. Garcia, 146.5 lbs of Philadelphia suffers his 1st blemish and is now 33-1.
THURMAN:
“The judges are judges. I thought out-boxed him. I thought it was a clear victory, but Danny came to fight. I knew when it was split and I had that widespread, I knew it had to go to me.
“I was not giving the fight away. I felt like we had a nice lead, we could cool down. I felt like we were controlling the three-minute intervals every round. My defense was effective – he wasn’t landing.”
“This is my dream coming true. Ben Getty believed in me before I knew that I had the ability to become a champion. He said that I was destined for greatness. He made me dedicate myself to the sport of boxing.
“I knew that today would be the day I accomplish my dreams. People know I fought my way up the amateurs. This was the first time I fought a real undefeated fighter and I demonstrated my skills tonight. I made my team proud.
“You’re not just fighting your opponent sometimes, you’re fighting the judges. They have their own perspective. I know I was backing up and being defensive, I feel like a lot of Danny’s power punches were ineffective. I was controlling the fight from the outside. There were some rounds that I was dominating. I knew that I had pulled ahead. We felt like we definitely earned the victory tonight.
“There might have been one left hook to the body that he landed that I felt. But we know how to endure these punches. This isn’t just about out-boxing an opponent, you have to take a punch too. Danny was well-grounded and he had some awkward head movements. He’s a world class fighter. We just had to make adjustments.”
GARCIA:
Thoughts on split decision:
“I came up short tonight. I thought I was the aggressor. I thought I pushed the pace. But it didn’t go my way.
“I thought I won and I was pushing the fight. But it is what it is.
“He was trying to counter. I had to wait to find my spots.”
“It was a tough fight. I thought I came back strong. I thought I won the fight. It was close, but I thought I did enough to win.
“It is what it is. I can’t cry over anything, I’ll come back strong like a true champion. I would love to have a rematch to get my titles back.
“I knew running would be his game plan. Everyone knew that was his game plan. I thought I won and that’s it.”
ANGEL GARCIA
“Keith ran half the fight. Boxing is about hitting, not running. Danny tried to be the aggressor, but Keith was moving around too much.”
DAN BIRMINGHAM
“We knew we had the fight won. Keith was still scoring while he was backing up – sticking and moving.
“We know Danny is a great fighter and there was a lot of great back and forth, but Keith was the better man tonight.”
Erickson Lubin earned a mandatory title shit with a 4th round stoppage over Jorge Cota in a junior middleweight bout.
Lubin landed a crushing over hand left that sent Cota crashing to the canvas. Cota got to his feet, but the fight was s stopped at 1:25
Lubin, 153.8 lbs of Orlando, FL is 18-0 with 13 knockouts. Cota, 153.8 lbs of Sinaloa, MX is 23-2.
ERICKSON LUBIN
“I baited him with the jab. I knew he was going to come with the big shots early. I put a few tricks on him, I landed that overhand right and it was night-night. I put my hands down to bait him in, I did a squat and then it was night-night. I was ready to follow-up with a right but he was already out.
On an opportunity to potentially become the youngest world champion in boxing:
“That would mean a lot to me; that would mean a lot to Orlando, Florida.
“This is my second time knocking someone out in front of Ray Leonard. He’s one of my favorite fighters of all time. It’s an honor to do this on CBS.”
Richardson Hitchins made a successful pro debut with a 1st round stoppae over Mario Perez in a welterweight bout.
Hitchins dropped Perez in the 1st with a right hand. Seconds later, it was a left that dropped Perez and the fight was waved off at
Hitchins, 141 lbs of Brooklyn is 1-0 with 1 knockout. Perez, 141.2 lbs of Baja, Mexico is 1-1.
Sergey Lipinets stopped Clarence Booth in round seven of a scheduled 8-round junior welterweight bout.
Lipinets dropped Booth in round seven and finished him off with a flurry in the corner at 1:33.
Lipinets, 140.6 lbs of Beverly Hills, CA is 12-0 with 10 knockouts. Booth, 140 lbs of St. Petersburg, FL is 14-3.
SERGEY LIPINETS
“We had a short camp for this fight so it took me a little while to relax. Once I got loose, I did what I wanted to do.
“I’m the mandatory for the IBF title. I’m going to wait for my shot and from then on we’ll just see who is willing to fight us.
“I’m still developing my style. I want to please the crowd. It’s an honor to be on a show like this. I’m not a fluke. Ever since I’ve fought professionally, I’ve only fought tough opponents.
“I had him hurt. He could have kept going based purely off of will but he would have just gotten hurt more. He’s better off this way and can fight again.”
CLARENCE BOOTH
“I thought it was an early decision. I was alright. He got me with a decent shot. But I was fine when he came rushing at me.
“I thought I was in the fight. He’s a strong guy, but he didn’t really hurt me. I thought I was right there with him.”
Andrzej Fonfara basically ended the career at the top level of former light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson by stopping him in the 10th and final round.
Fonfara dropped Dawson in round nine, and finished him off with a hard flurry in the corner at 28 seconds of round ten.
Fonfara, 176.8 lbs of Chicago, IL is 29-4 with 17 knockouts. Dawson, 176 lbs of New Haven, CT is 34-5.
“I heard the scores were not in my favor. Right now I can’t say whether or not I agree with them. I thought I was winning the fight, but I’d have to go back and watch closer.
Heather Hardy won a 8-round unanimous decision over Edina Kiss in a featherweight bout.
Hardy, 124.6 lbs of Brooklyn won by scores of 80-72 twice ans 79-73 and is now 19-0. Kiss, 124.2 lbs of Budapest, HUN is 13-3.
Mario Barrios (18-0, 10 KOs), remained undefeated with a stellar performance, defeated his opponent Yardley Suarez (20-7, 11 KOs) by sixth round TKO.
