Danny Garcia v Lucas Martin Matthysse

In a bout seen as the most "explosive" encounter on "The One" card Danny Garcia (17-0, 16) defeated Lucas Matthysse (34-3, 32) by a decision to successfully retain the combined WBC and WBA Light Welterweight titles.


Prior to the fight their was a clear "Buzz" from the crowd, a shock considering the fact they had all fallen to sleep during the previous bout, a sleep inducing contest between Ishe Smith and Carlos Molina.

The opening round was a careful and slow one with Garcia boxing well with his movement and jab. It wasn't what we expected and wasn't a shoot out but it was a very intelligent round from Garcia. Despite the unexpected start things did heat up in the second round as Matthysse fought back and tagged Garcia several times. Unfortunately the round saw the first, of many, low blows by Garcia in what become a bit of a sub story to the fight.

Round 3 was another where Garcia's boxing made Matthysse look slow and clumsy though again Garcia seemed to get away with shots south of the border. Although Matthysse didn't seem to make much of a fuss they were becoming a common place in the arsenal of Garcia and, at least for me, they were beginning to leave questions as to what he was going to be able to get away with from Tony Weeks.

The "borderline" shots were continuing through round 4 as Garcia, who was genuinely boxing well and moving excellently seemed to have found a nice way to slow down Matthysse's assaults. It wasn't until round 5 that Tony Weeks actually told Garcia to keep them up, and that was after the second or third one in that round alone. It had by now become obvious that Matthysse's balls had become a "legal" area. Despite the low blows Matthysse seemed to take rounds 5 and 6 as he went up a gear and by the mid way point it could well have been scored even.

Despite two good rounds for Matthysse he had a nightmare round 7 in which his right eye was almost swollen shut. This nasty injury seemed to immediately effect the Argentinian who struggled through the following 2 rounds with the doctor taking a serious look at it in between rounds 8 and 9. Those rounds were all Garcia with Matthysse trying to protect the eye rather than really fight back, this saw Garcia landing his much vaunted left hook several times.

With Matthysse now looking like a man who was on the verge of being stopped he some how put on an amazing effort in round 10 as he showed their was still plenty left in "The Machine". The big effort of Matthysse in round 10 gave him his best round since the 6th and was a round he clearly won as Garcia appeared to suddenly tire.

The controversy of the low blows wasn't the only mark on the fight with a huge blown call by the referee in round 11. Matthysse started the round fast again, as he had in the previous round and actually punched Garcia's gum shield out of his mouth at the start of it. Unfortunately Matthysse's good work was undone with a knockdown call against him which appeared to come not only following a punch to the back of the head but whilst Matthysse was stuck between the ropes. The referee, who had in all honesty allowed Garcia away with ball bashing blew the call here and probably swung the round from a 10-9 Matthysse round to a 10-8 Garcia round. Those 3 points would prove to be a major issue just a few minutes later.

Going into the final round it seemed almost certain Matthysse needed a stoppage to win, and he went for it. Unfortunately low blows again came to the fray, though this time Matthysse was dropped by one and the referee, finally, deducted a point from Garcia, something he could have done 3 or 4 rounds earlier. The point however wasn't enough and Matthysse knew it, though he was forced to take another low.

Almost angered by the final low blow Matthysse let it all hang out as the two men traded to the bell, with it seeming almost certain that Garcia has retained his titles. What perhaps became important however was the margin of the victory, with the decision going to Garcia by scores of 114-112 (twice) and 115-111.

That knock down and the swing of it, effectively cost Matthysse, and that's with out mentioning the numerous, unpunished low blows.

Mr Weeks, I'm usually a fan but don't let your new Audi advert go to your head, you had a real stinker here.

Danny Garcia v Zab Judah

WBA "super" and WBC Light Welterweight champion Danny Garcia (26-0, 16) and challenger Zab Judah (42-8-0-2, 29) may have entered the ring with a genuine dislike of each other though at the end of their excellent bout they certainly seemed to have a new found respect for each other.

The bad mouthing, specifically by Garcia's dad Angel Garcia may have crossed the line of "decency" several times but that didn't prevent the fighters from showing their class in the ring as the two men put on an unexpectedly solid fight.

The bout started slowly with Garcia looking to land his dangerous right hand on to Judah who attempted to score with his fast jab. The opening round was certainly hard to split though it was due to neither man managing to establish themselves as the boss. As the fight wore on though Garcia seemed to grow in to things quickly and after rocking Judah hard in round 5 he managed to dominate the challenger in round 6 as the champion looked to be on the verge of forcing a stoppage.

Oddly Judah, a known "fast starter" really first came alive in round 7 as he used his speed and skills to thoroughly dominate the champion in his first clear round. It appeared that the notorious fast starter was starting fast for the second half of the fight, sadly however for the challenger his momentum was swiftly ended in round 8 as Garcia dropped him on to his pants.

Garcia, who appeared to be comfortably up going in to round 9, helped in part to the knockdown then claimed the 9th before an enthralling fight back by Judah saw him taking the final 3 rounds whilst detonating some really eye catching left hooks that appeared to hurt the champion. Sadly for Judah however it was too little too late and Garcia had bagged enough of the early rounds to retain his title.

For Garcia this was an expected title defense though few could have expected the difficulties that he had. The most shocking thing about the bout however was the heart that Judah showed in refusing to fold at any point in the bout, in fact his ability to fight back and to fight back hard was nothing short of excellent from a man who has often been questioned regarding his intestinal fortitude.

Danny Garcia v Erik Morales II

As a boxing fan some things are really upsetting, and watching an icon nearly have his head knocked off his shoulders is up there with the worst. Sadly for Erik Morales (?-?) I think we saw the final death knell in an hall of fame career tonight as Danny "Swift" Garcia (?-?) almost certainly ended Morales' career.

The early rounds of the bout saw a mature Garcia showing Morales little respect. The WBA "super" and WBC Light Welterweight champion seemed to no longer respect Morales as he had done when the two men first met earlier this year. Instead Garcia seemed to realise he was now a world champion.

Garcia had won the opening 2 rounds but in round 3 really made a statement as he seriously hurt Morales just before the bell. A dazed Morales headed to Garcia's corner before being guided, by his team to his own corner and from then on the writing was on the wall.

It didn't take long for Garcia to take advantage of a dazed Morales and midway through the fourth round Morales was almost sent out of the ring by a wonderful Garcia counter that saw Morales down and forced the referee to wave the bout off.

Whilst Morales isn't the fighter he once was, and in fact is a washed up fighter (despite his Ring magazine rating of #6 going into the bout) this was still a sorry and upsetting sight. Thankfully for Garcia it's job done and hopefully he'll face Lucas Matthysse next year in a fight to truly decide the #1 guy at Light Welterweight.  Whilst Garcia may well be the WBC and WBA "super" champion at 140lbs, few will accept him as the stand out guy unless he can defeat Matthysse, and that appears to be the bout that the fans are calling for.