Thankfully, the fight did not go the full 12 rounds. Tonight on the Canelo-Berlanga card in Las Vegas, WBA middleweight titlist Erislandy Lara stopped former 140-pound king Danny Garcia with a ninth-round corner retirement victory.
(Credit: Ryan Hafey & Rey Del Rio/Premier Boxing Champions)
Lara, the oldest current world champion in the sport at age 41, dropped Garcia with a left hand to the head in the ninth, and Angel Garcia pulled his son out, not allowing Danny out for the tenth round.
Lara of Cuba is now 31-3-3(19). Garcia of Philadelphia falls to 37-4(21).
In short, tonight’s fight was both duller than dull, with barely any action save the late knockdown scored by lefty Lara – and the fight proved to be a sad affair, as the once formidable, fan-favorite Garcia looked a shell of himself. It really should be time for “Swift ” to make a quick exit from the sport he once lit up in style.
As for Lara, he had himself an easy night, with his crisp and regular right jab basically winning the fight for him. Lara boxed at his pace, Lara doing pretty much what he wanted to do. Garcia tried, at times, yet he was unable to get any sort of a foothold in the bout.
Lara is still quick at age 41, and of course, Garcia’s inactivity didn’t help his cause. Lara boxed quite beautifully at times, albeit at a watered-down pace, and he never really had to get out of second gear. But again, the talking point here is this the end of Garcia? It’s always sad and depressing to see a once great fighter (great? Does Garcia fit the bill? Another article for another time, maybe) show up with nothing left in the tank, and this is what we got with Danny tonight.
Garcia surely heads to the exit door. While Lara, a nightmare for anyone to fight and also what he can call a “boring ” fighter, faces the tough task of getting into further big fights and paydays.
Tonight’s fight did nobody any favors – not Garcia, not Lara, and not our paying fans.
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