Photos - Tom Hogan-HoganPhotos/Golden Boy Promotions
In what was the toughest fight of his career, Victorville's Ryan Garcia (21-0, 18 KOs) stopped England's Luke Campbell (20-4, 16 KOs) Saturday night at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas, Texas in winning the WBC lightweight title. Garcia was down early in the second round by a hard left hook from Campbell. It was a difficult fight for as Garcia was in a scrap with Campbell. Later in the fight a hard crunching left hook to the body by Garcia dropped Campbell as the referee reached a ten count at 1:58.
Venezuela's Richard Gutierrez (25-3-1, 20 KOs) won a hard fought unanimous decision edging out Rene Alvarado (32-9, 21 KOs) out of Nicaragua in a rematch, winning the WBA super featherweight title and avenging his 2017 stoppage defeat. Gutierrez dropped Alvarado twice in the third round. The battle continued for Gutierrez as Alvarado began to take over the bout. Late in the fight with the fight close and both fighters sensing the urgency, Gutierrez dropped Alvarado in the final round as that secured the decision for the Venezuelan. In the end the knockdown made the difference as all three judges scored the bout 113-112.
IBF light flyweight champion Felix Alvarado (36-2, 31 KOs) from Managua, Nicaragua retained his title with an impressive stoppage over former IBF minimumweight champ DeeJay Kriel (16-2-1, 8 KOs) of South Africa. Alvarado swarmed Kriel from the beginning with big shots sending him to the canvas a pair of times in the second and fourth round but the South African fought hard and never back down showing tremendous heart. The champ was relentless continuing to attack and finally putting an end to the fight as the referee stopped the fight at 1:39 of the tenth.
Other bouts
Middleweight prospect Raul Curiel (9-0, 7 KOs) of Tamaulipas, Mexico stopped Ramses Agaton (22-13-3, 12 KOs) in round two. The 2016 Mexican Olympian dropped Agaton with a body shot then finished him off in the second as the corner threw in the towel, the referee stopped the fight at 1:16.
Lightweight Sean “Sugar Rush” Garcia (6-0, 2 KOs), the younger brother of KingRy, won a majority decision over Rene Marquez (5-6, 2 KOs). Scores were 39-37, 39-37, and 38-38.
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