Undefeated welterweight prospect Danny Garcia (3-0, 3 KOs) destroyed his overmatched opponent Marlo Cortez (2-4-1, 2 KOs) in the 2nd round of a scheduled four-round bout on Friday night at the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa, in Cabazon, California. The end came suddenly in the 2nd round when Garcia, 19, finally caught up with a fleeing Cortez, 30, and planted him to the canvas with a big left hook. The fight was stopped almost immediately, as referee Tony Crebs moved in and halted the bout at 1:07 of the 2nd round.
Cortez laid on the canvas for almost a minute afterwards, trying to clear his head from the knockdown. Garcia, considered one of the best prospects in the welterweight division, was after Cortez from the opening moments of the bell, throwing wild shots and missing most of them in his urgency to end the fight quickly. Garcia stalked Cortez throughout the round, and hitting him with some big right hands and left hooks to the head.
Garcia’s best shot of the round, a leaping left hook, showed how athletic Garcia was, as it was thrown with picture perfect form. Cortez looked frightened for most of the round, choosing to try and stay on the outside as much as possible and rarely firing anything back at Garcia.
In the 2nd round, Garcia began throwing almost exclusively left hooks, and at one point in the round, he landed three consecutive left hooks that got both the crowd and Cortez’s attention. After getting hit with those shots, Cortez decided it was safer if he started moving side to side, hoping he could prevent from getting hit with any more of the left hooks. However, Garcia, predicting where Cortez would go next, cut off the ring and tagged him with a big left hook that dropped Cortez to the canvas. The referee then moved in and halted the bout at at 1:07 of the 2nd round.