Garcia falters in comeback; Hernandez makes successful return

By Bart Barry (Ringside)

FOUNTAIN HILLS, Ariz. – After 19 months of inactivity, Becky Garcia picked a tough opponent to come back against. Too tough, as it turned out.

Friday night at Fort McDowell Casino, fighting in the co-main event of FelKO Promotions’ “Super Brawl” – and with hall of famer Michael Carbajal in her corner – Garcia (5-1, 3 KOs) suffered her first professional loss to Suszannah Warner (8-6, 2 KOs), a former NABF strawweight champion.

All three ringside judges saw the match for Warner, turning in scorecards of 40-36, 39-36 and 40-35. The 15Rounds.com scorecard concurred, 39-36.

Garcia began the match showing little evidence of what ring rust generally accumulates on a fighter who’s been inactive for almost two years. After holding her own in a number of exchanges, though, Garcia went down from a straight right hand at 2:30 of the first round. Referee Wes Melton ruled it a knockdown caused by a punch, though many in the Fort McDowell crowd believed it had been a push that sent Garcia to the blue mat.

Down 10-8 on all three scorecards after one round, Garcia no longer had the luxury of easing into her return match. Once Garcia increased her aggression, Warner landed more easily. After Round 2, Garcia’s left eye was marked and her nose began to swell.

The third and fourth stanzas went along much as the second, and before Garcia was able to build much momentum, the fight was over.

Afterwards, a jubilant Warner threw her hands in the air and hugged her trainer. When asked about what effect Garcia’s power punches had taken on her, Warner said, “What right hands? I’m sorry, but I don’t remember feeling any right hands.”

Garcia, meanwhile, conceded that her time off had affected her more than expected. “I was really surprised by how tired I felt,” Garcia said after the fight. “But I didn’t want an easy opponent in my first fight back. I wanted to see where I was.”

Four-time world champion Michael Carbajal, who worked in Garcia’s corner for the first time Friday night, confirmed that he’ll continue working with Garcia for future fights.

Friday night’s main event saw Phoenix middleweight Hector Hernandez (10-2-2, 4 KOs) make a successful return to the ring after a 12-month layoff of his own. Fighting a six-round rematch with another Phoenix middleweight, Arturo Ortega (12-7-3, 7 KOs), Hernandez began slowly but soon increased his pace to win a comfortable unanimous decision by scores of 60-54 on all three cards.

“Honestly, I was a little nervous in the first round,” said Andy Soto, Hernandez’s trainer. “But after Hector weathered the first storm, I knew he’d be fine.”

The best fight of an evening filled with entertaining fights, though, was a four-round women’s super-bantamweight match between Tucson’s Annette Agredano (2-0) and New Mexican Clara de la Torre (1-3, 1 KO). Despite lopsided scores in her favor – 40-36, 39-37 and 39-37 – Agredano knew she was in a fight every moment of her 12 minutes with De la Torre.

Before that, Arizona welterweight Gabe Garcia (4-3-1, 1 KO) decisioned California’s Roberto Cancio (1-2) by scores of 39-35, 39-36 and 40-34. Garcia continues to make fun scraps, but he’d be well advised to keep his lead hand higher.

Friday night began with a 140-pound match between Californian Antonio Soria (2-0, 2 KOs) and Juan Zamarripa (0-1). Soria walked directly through Zamarripa, who made his professional debut much earlier than he should have. Soria scored Friday’s only knockout by stopping Zamarripa at 0:27 of Round 2.

Present at ringside was popular local prospect Rafael Valenzuela. Undefeated Arizona junior lightweight Juan Garcia joined him for a quick appearance before an upcoming trip to California, where “Juanito” will act as a sparring partner for 130-pound world champion Manny Pacquiao.

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