Ryan Garcia scores dominant decision over Barrios
By Norm Frauenheim
LAS VEGAS ––For one night, there were no doubts about Ryan Garcia.
He eliminated them with a disciplined, thorough decision over Mario Barrios Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.
Garcia (25-2, 20 KOs), often known for wild controversy, simply performed, a boxer trying to redeem the considerable talent in his skillset. He did that, dominating the scorecards – 119-108, 120-107 and 118-109.
Barrios (29-3-2, 18 KOs) never had a chance, mostly because Garcia never lost control.
Along the way, Garcia picked up his first world title, the World Boxing Council welterweight belt.
He also reconnected with his dad, Henry, who was back in his corner. Garcia wore dad’s first name, stitched onto the beltline of his red trunks.
He also put himself in line for bigger fights, perhaps a sequel in a grudge match with Devin Haney. There’s also Shakur Stevenson, who has quickly emerged as a pound-for-pound contender. Stevenson was at ringside. Sure enough, Garcia called him out after the scores were announced. He still knows when and how to deliver a line.
There were no complaints, except for maybe one.
“To be honest, I should have got the knockout,’’ Garcia said.
He didn’t, perhaps, because defense is the only weapon in Barrios’ skillset. He’s careful, but now he’s also an ex-champion
It didn’t take long for Garcia to display just how fast and powerful his hands are. Not long after David Benavidez’ young son, Anthony, welcomed him into the ring with a fast flurry of his own punches, Garcia went to work. But it began with a surprise
He’s known for a lethal left. But he opened with a right that put Barrios down just seconds after opening bell.
Barrios kept his poise. He got up, patience instead of panic in his eyes. Those eyes, however, also had to be filled suddenly with some unexpected concern.
Barrios had to be as wary of the right as much as that feared left. It confronted Barrios with some double-edged danger. Power on one side and diversionary on the other.
It was meant, perhaps, to set Barrios up for a finishing blow. But the defending champion from San Antonio proved to be tougher than perhaps Garcia expected. He withstood what Garcia threw with either hand and from almost any angle.
Still, there was a toll. From round-to-round, it became increasingly evident. Garcia punches and stubborn pressure began to wear down Barrios. He remained upright in trough the remaining eleven rounds.
But there were moments when his balance looked shaky. Barrios’ attempts at landing his best punch, a counter, began to dwindle as he kept his distance, perhaps because he didn’t want to step inside and within the range of the destructive power in both of Garcia’s hands.
It was a tactic. But Barrios couldn’t win that way. It allowed Garcia to stand outside, often with his hands down, as he fired from distance, almost sniper-like. Again and again, he scored enroute to the fist win on what might be redemption.
Russell survives, scores decision over Hiraoka
It was a fight for survival, or at least a punishing exhibition in how to prevail. Gary Antuanne Russell. won. Andy Hiraoka lost.
To the winner, there were mostly bruises. Russell’s resilience and early energy guaranteed victory. But the defending World Boxing Association’s junior-welterweight champion (19-1, 17 KOs) suffered mightily in the tenth round because of an ugly low blow, thrown inadvertently but right on target.
Hiraoka (24-1, 19 KOs) was penalized a point. But it didn”t matter. He lost on all three cards — 117-110 and 116-111 twice. In the Japanese junior-welterweight’s first loss, he won over the fans. The gathering crowd for Ryan Garcia-Mario Barrios at T- Mobile Arena cheered him and booed Russell when the scores were announced.
Hiraoka was fighting just a couple of days after a long flight from Japan. He was delayed by VISA problems. Early on, he looked stiff and tentative, almost as if he was suffering from jet lag. If he was , however, he shook it off in the middle rounds, That’s when he began to land big lefts and thundering body shots.
As the fight went on, it began to look as if jet lag might be contagious. Russell looked tired. In the end, however, he had scored often enough in the early round to survive.
Martin, Albright fight to wild draw
Anybody for a rematch?
It sounds as if everybody is, including Frank Martin and Nahir Albright who set the stage for one with a wild draw Saturday on a card featuring Ryan Garcia-Mario Barrios at T–Mobile Arena.
Through eight rounds, Martin (19-1-1, 13 KOs), a Detroit junior-welterweight, appeared to hold a slight edge. He dictated pace. He landed more solid shots. In the ninth, the lefthander rocked Albright (17-2-1, 7 KOs), of Philadelphia.
In the tenth, however. Albright attacked, capturing the momentum and badly hurting Martin with a head-spinning combination of ;punches. Martin stumbled, then desperately held on and held himself up just enough to avoid defeat.
In the end, it was 95-95 on all three scorecards.
“Should we re-run it?” Martin asked the fans.
The crowd roared yes.
Melikuziev Stops Agbeko in 7
Bektemir Melikuziev stopped Sena Agbeko in round seven of their 10-round super middleweight bout,
In round four, Melikuziev was cut around the right eye from a clash of heads. Agbeko was cut on his forehead
In round seven, Melikuziev wobbled Agbeko with a right hook and then was dropped with a straight left. Agbeko was badly hurt and ate another straight left and the fight was stopped at 2:58.
Melikuziev is now 17-1 with 11 knockouts. Agbeko is 29-5.
Amari Jones dominates, scores stoppage
It started with a counter hook. It ended in a beatdown.
From start to end, it was all Amari Jones (16-0. 14 KOs), a middleweight from Oakland, CA, who delivered a perfectly-executed hook that put Luis Arias down onto his rear and sliding across the canvas Saturday on the Ryan Garcia-Mario Barrios card.
Arias (22-7-1, 11 KOs), of Las Vegas, got up from the shot, but never really covered from the damaging impact. He looked hurt. He moved around the ring in evident fatigue. In the fourth, he was down again.The ringside physician took one look at him and ended it. Before the fifth, he was finished.
Uppercut thunder keeps Alakel unbeaten
Mohammed Alakel is unbeaten because of an uppercut.
David Calabro (5-2, 3 KOs) couldn’t elude it. It landed once, leaving him with a bloodied nose. It landed again, this time landing on his midsection with a shot that echoed throughout an empty Mobile Arena Saturday afternoon. Both put Calabro, of Aston PA, on the canvas, both within a few moments in the second round.
Calabro had seen enough. So had the referee, who ended it at 2:17 of the second in a TKO victory for Alakel (8-0, 2 KOs) of Riyadh.
First Bell: Hitchins withdraws from title defense versus Duarte as Garcia-Barrios card gets off to slow start
The show opened with empty seats, news that the co-main event was off the card and Joshua Edwards.
A few fans had just reached their seats at T-Mobile Arena when it was reported that junior-welterweight Richardson Hitchins withdrew from his title defense Saturday against Oscar Duarte on the Ryan Garcia-Mario Barrios card because of an undisclosed illness. Delay and dull followed.
Edwards, a former Olympic heavyweight, appeared to have the power to eliminate the dull. But there was no stoppage. Edwards, a perfect five knockouts in five fights before the bout, could never land anything solid against Canadian Brandon Colantonio (7-3, 1 KO). Instead, Edwards settled for his first scorecard win, a unanimous decision.