Ryan Garcia vs. Luke Campbell – live results

By Boxing News - 01/02/2021 - Comments

By Mark Eisner: In a drama-filled win, Ryan Garcia (21-0, 18 KOs) scored a big seventh-round knockout victory over ‘Cool Hand’ Luke Campbell (20-4, 16 KOs) to win the vacant interim WBC lightweight title on Saturday night at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

Garcia had to get up off the deck in round two to come back to flatten Campbell in the seventh round with a left to the body. Campbell was too hurt to get back up from the knockdown in the seven, and the fight was subsequently halted by referee Lawrence Cole. The time of the stoppage was at 1:58 of the seventh.

After the fight, Garcia called out Gervonta Davis, saying “Let’s go Tank.”

“Lomachenko couldn’t stop him, Linares couldn’t stop him,” said Ryan beaming about his knockout win over Campbell.

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  • Roger Gutierrez (25-3-1 20 KOs) dethroned WBA World super featherweight champion Rene Alvarado (32-9, 21 KOs) in winning a narrow 12 round unanimous decision in their rematch. The scores were 113-112, 113-112, and 113-112. The younger, bigger fighter Gutierrez, 25, dropped the 31-year-old Alvarado down twice in round three and then finished a big knockout in the 11th round. The knockdown in the 12th from a short left hook by Gutierrez was crucial for him getting the win. What was interesting about the fight was how Gutierrez gassed out after hurting Alvarado in the third. He had Alvardo on the verge of a knockout in that round, but he let him off the hook. From there, most of the rounds were close, but you had to give the majority of them to Alvarado because he’s coming forwards, putting pressure on the exhausted Gutierrez. In the final punch stats, Gutierrez connected on 222 of 673 shots for a 33% connect rate. Alvarado landed 162 of 643 punches for a 25% connect rate. The fight was close enough to where there would be a lot of fan interest for a trilogy match.
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    • IBF World light flyweight champion Felix Alvarado (36-2, 31 KOs) stopped former champion DeeJay Kriel (16-2-1, 8 KOs) by a tenth round knockout in a scheduled twelve-round fight. The referee Mark Calo-oy halted the fight in the tenth after the 31-year-old Alvarado hurt Kriel with a hard right hand to the head in the 10th. He then teed off on the 25-year-old South African Kriel against the ropes, forcing the referee to step in and stop the fight. The time of the stoppage was at 1:39 in round ten. Alvarado dropped Kriel in rounds two and four. Alvarado faded in the fifth, and he allowed Kriel to come back and do well. However, Alvarado got his second wind and retook control of the fight in the seventh. In the ninth, Alvarado trapped Kriel against the ropes in the last 20 seconds and had him hurt as the round ended. It was a good win for Alvarado. In the final punch stats, Alvarado landed 289 of 792 shots for a connect percentage of 36. For his part, Kriel connected on 158 of 940 shots for a much lower 17% connect percentage. Alvarado landed with a lot more power, and that was the telling factor in the contest. If Kriel had the same kind of power that Alvarado possessed, he might have won. The fight to be made now is a unification match between Alvarado and WBO light flyweight champion Elwin Soto.

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    • Featherweight Sean Garcia (6-0, 5 KOs) stayed unbeaten with a questionable four-round majority decision over journeyman Rene Marquez (5-6, 2 KOs). The judges scored it 39-37, 39-37 for the 20-year-old Garcia, and 38-38. Boxing News 24 had the fight a draw at 38-38. Garcia is the younger brother of Ryan Garcia, and similar to him, he throws a lot of hooks. Garcia nailed Marquez repeatedly with right hooks in rounds one and two. However, Marquez, 31, took the shots and put a lot of pressure on Garcia hard in rounds three and four. By the third, Garcia faded badly and was getting hammered by the motivated Marquez. In the fourth, Marquez stunned Garcia with a big right hand in the last 30 seconds of the round. A ragged-looking Garcia somehow made it to the final bell despite taking a lot of hard shots from Marquez. All in all, it was a good performance from Marquez, who showed a lot of toughness for a fighter with limited ability. As for Garcia, he needs to improve his stamina if he wants to avoid losing his next fight. Moreover, Garcia needs to work on his left hand and his jab, as he was overly reliant on his right hook as his only offensive weapon. At this point, Sean Garcia might not have the talent to be anything other than the younger brother to Ryan.

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  • Junior middleweight prospect Raul Curiel (9-0, 7 KOs) destroyed journeyman Ramses Agaton (22-13-3, 12 KOs) by a second-round knockout. Agaton was knocked down by a left to the body in the first round. In the second, Curiel continued to blast away at the hapless Agton until the referee stepped in and stopped the slaughter. The official time of the stoppage was at 1:16 in round two.

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Preview:

In the main event, unbeaten lightweight Ryan Garcia (20-0, 17 KOs) is taking on 2012 Olympic gold medalist Luke Campbell (20-3, 16 KOs). The fight will show boxing fans if highly hyped social media star King Ryan is as good as some think he is.

It says a lot that Canelo Alvarez and his trainer Eddy Reynoso both believe that Ryan has the talent to achieve big things in the sport. Tonight will show us if their assessment of Ryan is correct.

Ryan Garcia will be looking to put  on a show

“I think Ryan is going to come out and really try and put on a show,” said Chris Mannix of DAZN to Fino Boxing. “I don’t know if that’ll manifest in a first-round knockout or a second-round knockout, but I think he knows how many eyeballs are on him for this one.

“He knows how tough Luke Campbell is. He’s fought Lomachenko, he’s fought Linares and Yvan Mendy.

“No one has ever stopped him [Campbell], and I think he wants to be the first to stop him. So I don’t expect Ryan to be wreckless, but I do expect him to look for those big shots to try and do something impressive for this audience.”

Ryan Garcia will need to show more facets to his offensive game for him to beat a talented fighter like Campbell, as he’s shown himself to be a one-trick pony.  As a pro, King Ryan fights a lot like Jeff ‘Left Hook’ Lacy and Donavan ‘Razor’ Ruddock with his focus on throwing nothing but left hooks.

Those fighters had limited success with their carers due to their failure to develop their right hand. We could see the same thing happen with Ryan if he doesn’t develop another weapon to go along with his left hook.

Garcia needs more tools

“I think coming off those back to back knockouts, that might be a gift and a curse because he thinks he can do it again,” said Sergio Mora. “Luke Campbell has never been stopped and he’s been in with the best.

“He’s an Olympic gold medalist, he’s a southpaw and knows how to use the ring. Ryan Garcia is going to have to do something else other than to rely on that pot-shot left hook.

“He’s going to have to fight behind the jab and go looking for Campell’s lateral movement. It’s going to be very difficult for Ryan. I think this fight goes the distance. I don’t think anyone gets knocked out. It’s going to be a tough fight,” said Mora.

Ryan Garcia faces Luke Campbell live on DAZN tonight in a card that has an early start time of 3:00 p.m. ET from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. The Garcia vs. Campbell fight is expected to take place after 5:00 p.m ET, possibly as late as 6:00 p.m. Boxing News 24 will be giving live updates for the card below: