LAS VEGAS – Erislandy Lara and Danny Garcia both claimed in the build-up to their middleweight title bout at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas that victory would assure their place in the International Boxing Hall of Fame. That was always a tough argument to make convincingly – both men are, at best, on the bubble for induction – but it’s safe to say that the nine rounds that unfolded between them Saturday will have done nothing to enhance their cases.
Perhaps that’s unfair. Lara and Garcia are two highly accomplished professionals who have found success at the very top echelons of the sport. But styles make fights, and the prospect of two veterans – one of whom is at his best when his opponents open up and the other whose game is based on timing and countering – meeting in the ring, particularly at a combined age of 77, always threatened to be something of a stinker, and so it proved.
Even so, this was a spectacularly uneventful contest. The T-Mobile crowd started whistling in the first round and engaged in loud, lustful booing at multiple points throughout, including at the very end. The bulk of the blame might reasonably be placed on Lara, given that he was facing a career 140- and 147-pounder who was fighting for only the second time in four years, and who might therefore be expected to put his foot on the gas – but he seemed fully content with his performance.
“I felt like I boxed beautifully,” he said afterward. “It was a work of art, like a Picasso.” The crowd booed that as much as they had booed the contest itself.
Where to begin, really, in describing this bout? Round-by-round summaries won’t really cut it, given that so little of note happened in all except the concluding frame. There were differences and wrinkles from one round to the next, but the fundamental summary is that Lara largely staked out a spot in center ring while Garcia circled him, the two men flicking out exploratory jabs in each other’s direction and occasionally – very occasionally – looking to follow up with a power punch.
Lara (31-3-3, 18 KOs), for so long a tricky junior middleweight, has reinvented himself as an entertaining middleweight as his legs have lost some of their ability to glide around the ring. But without a willing dance partner, he reverted back to an approximation of the old Lara: happy to do whatever he felt was necessary to avoid defeat, however unappetizing it might be to the crowd.
Garcia (37-4, 21 KOs) had reflexes aplenty to slip many of Lara’s punches, but not enough to then actually do anything in response. The punches he did throw often fell short and were rarely, if ever, unleashed with any great violence. There comes a time in many boxers’ lives when, one day, they enter the ring and find, to their surprise and dismay, that they just “don’t have it.” And for Garcia – competing 20 pounds above his most successful weight, after stepping into the ring just once since 2020 – this may well have been that night. His father and trainer, Angel, seemed concerned, asking him if he was OK during one trip to the corner. And once his son showed the first real signs of not only being unable to throw anything with malice but also finally being unable to evade or withstand what came back at him, he pulled the plug.
That moment came at the end of the ninth round, after Lara had begun to step into his punches just a little and had managed to tag Garcia a couple of times. The end came seemingly out of nowhere, Lara backing Garcia to the ropes and landing a punch that did not appear to be particularly significant, but which caught Garcia flush in the face. Garcia slumped a little, appeared to consider his situation for a second and then went down to one knee. He beat the count of referee Thomas Taylor, but as soon as he trudged back to his corner, his father made it clear that enough was enough.
“I’m OK,” said Garcia afterward. “I didn’t think the layoff would affect me like that, but there’s no excuses. I couldn’t find my rhythm. He had a strong jab and he was controlling the distance well. I tried to conquer a third division and I came up short. I’ve been on top of the game for a long time. I’ll take this on the chin like a true champion.”
Kieran Mulvaney has written, broadcast and podcasted about boxing for HBO, Showtime, ESPN and Reuters, among other outlets. He also writes regularly for National Geographic, has written several books on the Arctic and Antarctic, and is at his happiest hanging out with wild polar bears. His website is www.kieranmulvaney.com.
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