BROOKLYN–Danny Garcia made is Welterweight debut with an emphatic 9th round stoppage over Paulie Malignaggi in a battle of former world champions in from of 7,237 at Barclays Center.
Garica controlled the action for most of the fight as he came forward winging and connecting power shots from the opening bell. Malignaggi’s right flank was red from absorbing body punches and he started to bleed from around his right eye as early as round three. Malignaggi had short yet unpowerful bursts of offense as he connected on some jabs and counter rights that may won him a couple rounds. It was Garcia who dominated with the effective punches as the blood got worse for Malignaggi in round eight.
In round nine, Garcia was sensing that Maliganggi did not have much left landed several more hard combinations and the bout was stopped at 2:22 of round nine.
Garcia, 146.6 lbs of Philadelphia made his maiden voyage at Welterweight is now 31-0 with 18 knockouts. Malignaggi, 146.8 lbs of Brooklyn. NY is now 33-7.
DANNY GARCIA
“First I want to thank God, team Garcia, ESPN, Al Haymon and the fans. My dad wanted me to be sharp and throw more straight punches.
“I felt a lot stronger. In the 9th round I felt like it was round 1. I need to work on shortening up punches and sticking with the game plan.
“Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter are great fighters in this division, and they’re both represented by Al Haymon so if they want we can make it happen.”
PAULIE MALIGNAGGI
“I was trying to dictate the pace b/c I didn’t want him to get into a groove. He’s a hard puncher and I didn’t want to give him confidence to land a big shot. I wanted to dictate with my jab and keep him missing so he’d second guess on throwing his power. The less power shots he throws the less power shots he could hit me with. I was trying to take a bit of his confidence. He was walking me down fairly well behind the jab. He cut me in the 4th and I think that upped his confidence. I never could get control of the pace though. In spots I felt I was giving up less ground and I had him missing. He got back on his groove though and he had a strong advantage maybe 70% to 30%…
“I think Danny can be an upper echelon fighter, he already is. And he can put his name in the history books. He has a lot of talent. People don’t realize he has a lot of character too. He has a very good poker face. He doesn’t get frustrated, and if he does he doesn’t show it to you. His father’s a great trainer and he really stays on him. Danny listens and they have a great relationship. Every time a round would start it was like he was fresh. Even at the end of rounds when I gave him something to think about he came back, and that’s really important.
“I’ve got a really good job commentating and watching great fighters fight ringside. I hope to sit around ringside for a long time. I felt like if I couldn’t put up a great performance tonight then it would be my last. I was trying to hang tough as much as I could. I remember when I was taking big shots I just kept thinking ‘Don’t give in. This is your last night if you give in. Don’t show that you’re going to give in. If you can show that you’re still hungry for it then you’ll convince yourself that this isn’t the end.’ I wanted to keep showing that I want it. Little by little he broke me down, and I have no problem with the stoppage.
“I’m probably not fighting again. You hate to make an emotional decision. My career started in Brooklyn 14 years ago. If it ends in Brooklyn tonight then at least I ended it at home where I’m from and in front of the greatest fans in the world”
Danny Jacobs retained his WBA Middleweight title with a 2nd round stoppage over Sergio Mora.
Jacobs drew first in round one as he landed a perfect right uppercut that sent Mora to the ground. Seconds later, It was Mora landed a perfectly timed left hook with Jacobs coming in that sent Jacobs to the deck. In round two, Jacobs landed a little combination that sent Mora to the canvas for a 2nd time and Mora rolled his ankle. When Mora got to his feet he was limping and could not continue at 2:55 of round two.
Jacobs, 159.8 lbs of Brooklyn is now 30-0 with 27 knockouts. Mora, 159.2 lbs of Los Angles, CA is 28-4-2.
DANIEL JACOBS
“No rematch, no reason to go backwards. Thank God for this victory, but I’m not going to give him a rematch just b/c.”
“I said did a guy w/ 9 knockdowns really knock me down?
“What’s next? I’ll leave it up to my manager Al Haymon and see what he says. I think these Brooklynites deserve something special and I think me and Kid Chocolate would be that special fight here at Barclays. And we’re on the “A” side now, we’re champions, so let’s do it!”
SERGIO MORA
Spoken to his corner man “I know it’s broken. I heard it pop.”
“I heard my knee pop and want to see replay b/c I know my ankle is broken,
“The commission told me anything less than four rounds then it’s a no contest. If you ask Danny I know he heard it too.
“I told you I came here to fight. I give him credit, but I came to take this championship. I want a rematch.”
Adam Kownacki scored a 2nd round stoppage over Maurenzo Smith in a scheduled 8-round Heavyweight bout.
Kownacki dropped Smith with a right hand and the fight was stopped at 2:26 of round two.
Kownacki. 251.4 lbs of Brooklyn, NY is 11-0 with 10 knockouts. Smith, 258.2 lbs of Houston, TX is 12-10-3.
Rafael Vasquez scored a 1st round stoppage over Mario Macias in a scheduled 8-round Featherweight bout.
Vasquez dropped dropped Macias with a right hand and the bout was stopped 67 seconds into the fight.
Vasquez, 125.2 lbs is 16-1 with 13 knockouts. Macias, 126 lbs of Mexico is 26-17.
Popular Heather Hardy scored a 7th round stoppage over Renata Domsodi in a scheduled 8-round Featherweight bout.
Domsodi began to bleed from her mouth in round three. The blood began to pour out and Hardy continued her assault until the bout was stopped 1 second into round seven.
Hardy, 121.2 lbs of Brooklyn is 14-0 with 3 knockouts. Domsodi, 121.6 lbs of Budapest, HUN is 12-7.
Thomas Velasquez made a successful pro debut with a stoppage in the 4th and final round of his Jr. Lightweight bout with Gabriel Braxton.
Velasquez dominated the bout with his aggressive style and in round four dropped Braxton hard with a right hand and the fight was stopped at 1:20 of round four.
Velasquez. 127.2 lbs of Philadelphia is 1-0 with 1 knockout. Braxton, 127.2 lbs of Red Oak, GA is 2-11.
Titus Williams made a successful pro debut as he won a 4-round unanimous decision over Micha Branch in a Jr. Lightweight bout.
Scores were 40-36 on all cards for Williams, 128 lbs of Elmont, NY. Branch, 130 lbs of Cincinnati, is 2-15-1.
Prichard Colon remained perfect by blowing out Michael Finney in a scheduled 8-round Jr. Middleweight bout.
Colon landed a huge right that was quickly followed up by a hard combination that snapped Finney’s head back several times before he hit the canvas. The fight was stopped upon Finney getting to his feet at 1:23 of round two.
Colon, 147.2 lbs of Orocovis, PR is 15-0 with 12 knockouts. Finney, 147.8 lbs of Las Vegas is 12-4-1.
