Philly's Danny Garcia Keeps Winning
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — At least someone is winning in Philadelphia. But it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, since that's all Danny "Swift" Garcia has ever done as a professional fighter.
Garcia took a nice step over the weekend toward a major fight later this year with a 12-round unanimous decision over Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero (33-4-1, 18 KOs) to win the vacant 147-pound WBC title before 12,052 in the Staples Center, in Los Angeles.
Garcia won the belt vacated by Floyd Mayweather, who was sitting ringside.
Judges Rey Danseco, Max DeLuca and Steve Weisfeld scored the fight all the same for Garcia, 116-112. They each gave Garcia (32-0, 18 KOs) six of the last eight rounds.
Guerrero, obviously, didn't agree. He heard the partisan crowd rooting for him and thought he did more to win.
"I want a rematch and that's it," Guerrero demanded. "Not one person out there thought Danny won, but his team. I pressured him, I nailed him, busted his body up. I out-jabbed him. I thought I won the fight. The crowd thought I won the fight. It was a great fight. I am happy I'm healthy. I will be back. I thought I won the fight and I definitely want a rematch.
"The doubters don't bother me. I showed how strong I am and what I could do. That's why I come out and fight the way I do. "It's all for the fans. That's why they bring me back. They love it and they enjoy it. They were entertained tonight. They thought I won the fight."
Punch stats said otherwise.
Garcia connected on 163 of 495 total punches (32.9 percent). What's more is Garcia barely used his jab, landing just seven of 153 (4.6 percent) thrown. He used a simple plan of letting Guerrero come to him and plowed him with power shots, connecting on 156 of 342 (45.6 percent). In contrast, Guerrero landed 108 of 436 total punches (24.8 percent), 21 of 116 jabs (18.1 percent) and 87 of 320 power shots (27.2 percent).
"It was what I expected," Garcia said. "I knew I would win at least eight or nine rounds. I knew there would be some headbutts in there. He head-butted me so much on my forehead. I'm back where I belong."
There's now a strong possibility Garcia could get a megafight by the summer or fall against the winner of the Keith Thurman-Shawn Porter showdown on March 12, at the Mohegan Sun Casino Resort in Uncasville, Connecticut, and will be televised in prime time on CBS (8:30 p.m. ET).
Thurman will be defending the WBA version of the welterweight belt, while Porter is coming off a sensational victory last June over Adrien Broner.
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