On The Watch “It’s All About Devin Haney vs Ryan Garcia”

Junior Welterweight Showdown

The promotional build up to this bout was quite awkward but last night’s Golden Boy/DAZN Main Event at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, between WBC Junior Welterweight Champion Devin Haney (31-1, 15 Kos) and Ryan Garcia (25-1, 20 Kos) definitely surpassed my expectations. Real Talk!

Ryan the underdog came out the gate with some serious aggression and rocked Devin with a serious left hook that dictated what was to come. Ryan’s power was quite evident but Devin regrouped and started using his boxing to survive the round.

As the rounds progressed Devin continued to box as expected while Ryan remained calm, waiting for the counterpunch to present itself. Both combatants showed no fear but the power punches were coming from Ryan whenever he let his hands go.

You could see Devin getting into his comfort zone inside that squared circle as the rounds were advancing but Ryan’s confidence never wavered, looking like an animal stalking his prey.

By the 7th round Devin fell asleep at the wheel and got caught with a mean left hook that dropped him, giving him his first standing 8 count in the professional ranks. Ryan had Devin on full survival mode clinching on Ryan for dear life.

The action picked up in the proceeding rounds with both combatants going back and forth but Ryan’s power punches and speed was clearly becoming a factor.

Devin’s defense wasn’t looking as tight as usual because Ryan’s left hand was “Money” and cashed in heavily once again knocking Devin down in the 10th round and the 11th round whenever he landed. Ryan’s equalizer secured the bout for me on this night. Devin could not stand up to Ryan’s power but truth be told he didn’t stay down. Real Talk!

After 12 completed action packed rounds, the Judges at hand called it 115-109, 114-110 and 112-112, giving the majority decision to “KingRy”. The Judge who scored it 112-112 is straight out of pocket for that score card but the right man definitely won this bout. Hands Down!

Due to the fact that Ryan missed the 140-Pound weight limit by 3.2 pounds, Devin remains the WBC Junior Welterweight Champion in defeat.

Belt or no Belt, Garcia proved the naysayers wrong and shocked the Boxing World last night by picking up his biggest win in his professional career to date.

Well done, Ryan, you definitely impressed me with this one!

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Teofimo Lopez vs Pedro Campa”

Junior Welterweight Showdown

Last night’s Top Rank/ESPN Main Event between former Unified Lightweight Champion Teofimo Lopez (17-1, 13 Kos) and Pedro Campa (34-2-1, 23 Kos) at the Resorts World Las Vegas, was the perfect bounce-back bout needed to introduce Teofimo into the Junior Welterweight Division.

Campa thought he could bully his opponent by standing his ground and going toe to toe in the pocket with Lopez and it looked good in the first few rounds but soon found out that Teofimo just needed a few feeling out rounds of his own to get his action going.

Teofimo fought at a slower pace than usual but was very effective with his output and punch selection while visibly administering damages to his opponent. Campa fought a good fight and kept it competitive but was clearly showing effect from the power shots Lopez was hitting him with.

As the rounds progressed Teofimo was clearly breaking Campa down. The inevitable occurred in round seven when Lopez connected with a strong right hand and left hook that dropped Campa for a quick 8 count that saw him bounce back up but clearly looked hurt by that time. Once action renewed Teofimo wasted no time and proceeded to administer a series of power punches from all angles with absolutely no resistance coming his way, forcing the referee to stop the bout.

Teofimo looked good last night inside that squared circle and fought a good fight by taking his opponent out. That being said I personally think he should still ease his way into the 140-Pound Division before calling out the “top dogs” in the Division. Them Dudes at the top will be a hell of a tougher obstacle then what you just conquered last night, no disrespect to Pedro Campa.

Until then congratulations Teofimo on your win. I can’t wait to see who’s next in line.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Ryan Garcia vs Javier Fortuna”

Junior Welterweight Showdown

Last night’s Golden Boy/DAZN Main Event between Ryan Garcia (23-0, 19 Kos) and Javier Fortuna (37-4-1, 26 Kos) was a showcase type of an event by Ryan that satisfied all his home fans who came out and represented in his honor at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California.

This bout was supposed to be a proper test to gauge where Ryan was at this point in his career considering Fortuna was a well-seasoned opponent who had the experience and the skills to give Ryan that much needed work.

That being said, Ryan came out the gate with a hard stiff jab that couldn’t miss. Ryan controlled every round with ease and absolutely no resistance coming from Fortuna. Ryan handled the vet like a sparring match rather than a legit bout.

Fortuna looked unprepared and out of place inside that squared circle. Ryan’s power was too much for Fortuna to handle and surprising to watch considering Fortuna had already been in there with some very good talent with exceptional power of their own in the past and prevailed.

Simply, Ryan was too big, too strong and agile for Fortuna to deter inside that square circle. The way Ryan was having his way inside that squared circle it was only a matter of time before the inevitable happened. In the fourth round a well-placed left body shot dropped Fortuna for a quick 8 count that saw him survive the round only to get dropped again in the fifth round by another left hand to the dome for another 8 count.

Fortuna was getting dismantled piece by piece and round by round. By the sixth round another head shot to the dome and down goes Fortuna and out comes the mouth guard. The referee had seen enough and stopped the bout by knockout.

Ryan talked a lot of sh*t all the way to the bout but backed every single word inside that squared circle. I tip my “B” hat to Ryan for an exceptional performance because he made Fortuna looked average knowing that Javier is a respectable Dude in the Boxing Game and never an easy out.

With two back-to-back wins and his focus back on boxing, Ryan is feeling like targeting Gervonta Davis (27-0, 25 Kos) as his next opponent. Now that’s a very interesting bout I would enjoy watching from the build-up to the night of but calling out “Tank” could be a risky move.

Can’t wait to see if this future bout can actually come to fruition.

Blaze