Erislandy Lara stopped Danny Garcia for the third WBA middleweight title defense (Photo courtesy of PBC),
About 120 seconds into the Erislandy Lara-Danny Garcia WBA middleweight title fight, a theme began to emerge. Or rather heard. A chorus of boos rained down on the fighters as the match unfolded into a gut-wrenching rejection that didn’t stop for the next eight rounds.
Lara made a third successful defense of the WBA middleweight title, fought at a catchweight of 157 pounds, and Garcia for the first time in his career in the ninth round on the Canelo Alvarez-Edgar Berlanga PBC on Prime pay dropped and then stopped. pay-per-view card in front of a sellout crowd of 20,312 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
“The punches I got hurt him,” Lara said. “That punch that ended the fight was a big shot. I felt like I was boxing beautifully. It was a work of art, like a Picasso. I denied everything Danny had. He is a great fighter and a Hall of Famer just like me.
“I used side movement with a long jab to land my big shots, just like you learn at the Cuban boxing school. I am ready for the next challenge. I’m here to stay. I have a lot of boxing in my ear.”
CompuBox statistics revealed that Garcia only landed 33 punches, while Lara only landed 63 punches. According to CompuBox, Lara (31-3-3, 19 knockouts) landed more jabs than power punches (37/26), but his last power punch knocked Garcia down at the end of the ninth round.
It was Lara’s fourth consecutive stoppage win.
Of the 18 rounds combined between the 36-year-old former two-division titlist Garcia and the 41-year-old Cuban expatriate southpaw Lara, they landed double-digit punches in a scant four rounds.
Garcia (37-4, 21 KOs) was on a career-high 26 months.
It showed.
“I’m okay,” Garcia said. “I gave up two years and tried to be great, and it wasn’t my night. No excuses. I didn’t think the layoff would affect me like this, but there are no excuses. I couldn’t find my rhythm. He had a strong jab and controlled the distance well.
“At the end of the day, my father (Engel) will always do what is best for me. I tried to conquer a third division and I came up short. I’ve been at the top of the game for a long time, I take it on the chin like a true champion.”
And then Garcia apologized to his fans and the T-Mobile Arena crowd.
It was supposed to be a tough test for Lara, The Ring’s No. 4-rated middleweight. He agreed to face Garcia at the 157-pound catchweight, which seemingly could have been harder for Lara to get down than it was for Garcia.
It didn’t seem like it.
The two finished the first round to boos, although it was clear that Lara was going to use his 7-inch reach advantage (75½ inches to Garcia’s 68½ inches). He jabbed at Garcia’s waist and tried to entice Garcia to punch so he could counter.
Near the end of the second, Lara Garcia began to push more, again amid a splash of boos. Referee Thomas Taylor could be heard in the background telling the fighters: “Look at the feet guys, look at the feet.”
What little Lara did land on seemed to have a reddish tint to Garcia’s face. Meanwhile, Garcia could do nothing. He threw eight punches and didn’t land in the second round.
With 1:16 left in the third, Lara finally connected on the first significant shot of the fight. Within the final minute, for a third consecutive round, the fans showed their displeasure at the tactical approach each fighter took. Near the end of the third, Thomas notified the ringside officials that Garcia had taken an accidental bump to the head.
Nothing went on in the fourth either. The fight was turning into a sedative for a mass audience. As Garcia returned to his corner, Angel Garcia, Danny’s father and trainer, kept asking Danny, “Are you okay, are you okay?”
Midway through the fifth, Garcia tried a quick combination, albeit reluctantly. Garcia hesitated, unsure of what to do. Lara pecked and pecked, and Garcia continued to do nothing. Lara did slightly more.
Through five it was easy to see Lara pitching a shutout.
After the sixth, Angel suspected something was wrong and repeatedly asked Danny, “Are you okay, are you okay?” Danny’s corner, sensing the fight getting more out of hand, begged their fighter to push Lara and let him fight.
Garcia, meanwhile, continued to do nothing but stand there. He seemed resigned to possibly making this his last fight as all the fight from his illustrious career seemed gone.
Lara was content to stay out and chase, keeping a safe distance and letting the crowd do anything but pay attention to the fight, wanting the main event to arrive as soon as possible—if they still was awake
In the waning seconds of the ninth round, Lara ended it herself. He caught Garcia with what appeared to be a left jab to the face that knocked Garcia down for the first time in his career — and possibly the last time.
When Garcia returned to his corner, Angel had seen enough. He gestured with his hand over his throat, that was it.
When asked what’s next for Danny, Angel said: “It depends on Danny. Whatever he wants to do, I’m okay with it.”
With stable finances, a new promotional company and several businesses and real estate holdings, retirement might not be a bad option for the future Philadelphia Hall of Famer.
Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter who has worked for Ring Magazine/RingTV.com since October 1997 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.
Follow @JSantoliquito (twitter.com)
