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Former two-time world champion Danny "Swift" Garcia dusted off his power punching style and scored an impressive seventh round TKO victory over Adrian Granados, at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, CA, Saturday night. The scheduled 12-rounder was televised live on Fox. Coming off the second loss of his career (L12 Shawn Porter), the victory improved Garcia's pro record to 35-2, 21 KOs. The game but over-matched Granados slide to 20-7-2, 14 KOs. It was great to see Garcia in the hunt for the knockout once again. His power was always a big part of his game, but in many of his biggest bouts of late, he's relied more on his boxing skills and let his power fade into the background. However, this was not the case on Saturday night.
After a feeling-out first round, Danny clubbed Granados with a sharp left hook in round two that sent the fighter from Illinois tumbling backward. Granados climbed to his feet, but Garcia put him on the deck again, thanks to a right hand punch. Garcia stalked him over the next two rounds, but Granados remained tough. He wasn't winning the fight, but Granados held his own. However in the fifth round, Garcia dropped him again, and afterward, there was no turning back. From that point on, Garcia battered the game Granados, slowly but surely wearing him down and beating him up. The fight became a one-sided affair, and it was clear that things would end long before the scheduled twelve round distance.
Finally in round seven, after an onslaught of unanswered punches, referee Thomas Taylor stopped the mismatch at 1:33 of the seventh. Granados had fought hard, but was not in Garcia's league. The victory renewed Garcia's campaign for a world title belt. His two losses as a pro (against Porter and Thurman) were both by a mere whisker, and perhaps could have been avoided with a little more of the aggression and desire to go home early that he displayed against Granados. Once such an integral part of his style, the all-business-bad intentioned Garcia has only made occasional appearances in recent years. When Garcia does let his power do the talking, he is at his most impressive, and Saturday's performance was a good example. For his troubles against Granados, Garcia won the WBC Silver welterweight title.
After the fight, Garcia indicated that he wanted to pursue big bouts with the elite of the welterweight division, including Errol Spence, and rematches Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter, but seemed particularly interested in a meeting with all-time legend Manny Pacquiao. "I hope I didn't scare him away," Garcia said after the fight. |
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