Garcia retains WBA and WBC titles with unanimous decision win over Matthysse

While the world was eagerly anticipating "The One," hardcore fight fans were looking to the junior welterweight championship fight between Danny Garcia and Lucas Matthysse as a guaranteed fireworks display to justify the pay-per-view cost.

Garcia, 25, of Philadelphia, Pa. had won The Ring magazine's junior welterweight belt with an upset knockout of Amir Khan last year, unifying the WBC and WBA belts in the process. Matthysse, 30, of Buenos Aires, Argentina had built up a reputation as one of the sport's most feared knockout punchers after knocking out his last six opponents.

It was a fight that most theorized Garcia would do best to avoid, but his gamble paid off in a big way as he captured the most prized scalp in the 140 pound division with a unanimous decision victory by scores of 114-112 on two cards and 115-111 on the third, Saturday (Sunday, PHL time) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Garcia (27-0, 16 knockouts) began the fight tentatively in the first two rounds, leery of the vaunted physical strength of Matthysse (34-3, 32 KOs). Angel Garcia, the father and trainer of Danny, implored his son to pick up the action in round three, and following his instructions to the word, Garcia landed effectively with a solid right cross.

As Garcia began to box confidently, his accuracy began to sore. Body shots and left hooks began to sap Matthysse's strength as he appeared to have the edge over the next three rounds.

With the fight evening out at the midway point, the momentum tilted towards Garcia by the seventh round when Matthysse's right eye began to swell from Garcia's heavy left hooks.

The action became more one-sided, and as the championship rounds set in, the desperation in Matthysse became evident. Matthysse came out in round eleven behind on the scorecards looking to erase the deficit with one right hand. Matthysse landed the best punch he could've hoped with early in the round,  a right cross that sent Garcia's mouthpiece flying into the first row.

The respite that was afforded Garcia to put the mouthpiece back in was all the time he needed to recover though. Towards the end of the round, Garcia knocked Matthysse into the ropes before dropping him for the first time in his career.

Matthysse recovered well, but knew he needed a knockout to win. Matthysse pressed forward in the twelfth, but a low blow by Garcia took the wind out of his sails. Referee Tony Weeks deducted a point from Garcia for the infraction, but it wasn't enough to affect the outcome.

"He kept coming at me but I just fought my heart out," said Garcia. "I'm a Philadelphia fighter and we're the greatest fighters in the world."

In the televised opener, Carlos Molina defeated Ishe Smith to win the International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior middleweight title. Molina (22-5-2, 6 KOs) of Chicago, Ill. was the more aggressive of the two, landing most effectively with the right hand in an otherwise tactical bout.

Smith (25-6, 11 KOs) of Las Vegas, Nev. won the title earlier this year by defeating Cornelius Bundrage, but lost it in his first defense. - CLP, GMA News



Ryan Songalia is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and contributes to The Ring magazine and GMA News. He can be reached at ryan@ryansongalia.com. An archive of his work can be found at www.ryansongalia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @RyanSongalia.