Garcia Defeats Morales Via Knockout

Garcia Defeats Morales Via Knockout

Last Saturday was a big achievement for Danny Garcia as he defeated his opponent, Erik Morales at 1:23 of the fourth round to retain his WBC and WBA super lightweight belt in the first boxing event at the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Garcia (25-0) showed no mercy as he beat Morales for the second time around this year, though this was a lot easier than the unanimous decision he won from the 36-year-old in Houston on last March 24. After a calm opening of two rounds, Garcia began getting the best of Morales with a series of body blows in the third.

Garcia continued firing punches at Morales in the fourth and for a minute and a half, the match ended quickly for Garcia’s 16th career knockout. He hit Morales on the right side of the head with a sharp left hook, and climbed the ropes in triumph while awaiting the official announcement.

Erik Morales, 24-year-old Philadelphia native, had his second fourth-round knockout in three months. Last July 14, he stopped Amir Khan in his first title defense.

Moreover, Morales (52-9) failed two random tests this month because of the diet supplement clenbuterol. Even though he passed after having tested thrice, he still blamed the results on tainted meat he had eaten.

Morales, who has held the super bantamweight, featherweight, super featherweight and junior welterweight titles, was fighting for the first time on the East Coast and lost for third time in his last four fights.

The fight marked the return of championship boxing to Brooklyn for the first time in more than 80 years.

Posted by Andre Monohan on Monday October 22 2012, 1:05 PM EST. Ref: Reuters. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0