Danny ‘Swift’ Garcia has come of age, and then some, after his overpowering dominance over veteran Erik Morales in Barclays Boxing debut.
Garcia still had something to prove in the 2nd face-off against his growing nemesis Erik Morales. Garcia, just 24-years-old has already shown the boxing world glimpses of just how brilliant he’s showing to be, but tonight’s KO of Morales surely goes to solidify that.
Garcia knocked out Morales with a mean left hook (which he attributed to his mother’s ‘left handed genes’) in the 4th round to improve his record to 25-0 with 16 KO. In retrospect, the match-up seemed somewhat beneath Garcia who after beating Amir Khan, showed the world he was ready for other prime candidates–a 36-year-old Erik Morales doesn’t exactly fit the bill. Garcia retains his WBC and WBA Super lightweight titles with that victory.
As for Erik Morales, what is left for him? Morales was quite candid after the all too short-and-simple bout and declared in Spanish that he would not be fighting in the US, and that he’d finish his career with one more fight in his native Tijuana, then retire. We can only hope that Morales stays true to his word and bows down on his terms in front of fans from his hometown.
As for the undercard fights in the mammoth night of Boxing at the Barclays, they were nail-biters, as well.
Devon Alexander defeats Randall Bailey
Easily the most lackluster bout of the night, to the point it warranted boos from the crowd. Alexander’s patience was what spelled victory for him ultimately, with Bailey always keen to go for the big KO it was Alexander who simply out boxed Bailey in the close match.
Peter ‘kid Chocolate’ Quillin defeats Hassan N’Dam
This was one heck of a match to behold, as both Quillin and N’Dam entered into more of a battle of wills more than anything else. N’Dam was knocked out by the more powerful Quillin SIX times, but to N’Dam’s credit he always got back up. It was Quillin’s power punching that yielded him the edge throughout, even in the latter rounds when it seemed like N’Dam was mounting a comback, Quillin entered ‘finish him’ mode and dispatched of his opponent.
Paulie Malignaggi defeats Pablo Cano in Split Decision
Brooklyn boxer Paulie ‘Magic Man’ Malignaggi needed every bit of that magic, and perhaps a little home cooking to get the judges to announce him the winner in this very even match. Malignaggi was knocked down and even booed by his home crowd, but he and Cano (who entered the fight overweight) matched each other pound for pound. Two judges concluded a score of 114-113 for Malignaggi, while the third judge ruled in Cano’s favor with 118-109. Malignaggi retains his welterweight title, but Cano wasn’t eligible anyway because he failed to make weight. All and all a drama filled fight that ended in a cloud in mystery, leaving you salivating for the main event which was to come, and topped off the night as a whole.