Even though Floyd mayweather dominated Alvarez all night, it really was not the best fight of the night. While Floyd is always fun to watch, his fight was somewhat boring. The best fight belonged to Danny Garcia and Lucas Matthysse. Garcia left the ring with the upset victory after basically leaving Matthysse with only one eye to see the punches coming. Garcia won a unanimous decision, which is something Floyd should of had as well. Hit the jump.
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As Per ESPN:
Matthysse dominated early, but once his eye nearly swelled closed in the seventh round, the fight changed and Garcia took over. Matthysse’s corner had no end-swell – the cold instrument used to control swelling. Garcia also knocked Matthysse down in the 11th round, the first time he had been down in his career.
“I’m the champion of the world,” Garcia said. “The champion of the world isn’t scared of anyone. If you can make it out of Philadelphia, you can make it out of anywhere. He’s a strong fighter; he’s going to come at me. The only way to slow him down is to go to the body. Later in the fight, I was throwing combinations, and he was just standing there and not slipping.”
The fight figured to be a battle of Garcia’s left hook against Matthysse’s right hand, and Matthysse was trying to land the right in the opening round, while Garcia did not uncork the hook. Garcia, making his fourth title defense, was warned for a low blow in the second round after Matthysse had roughed him up a bit near the ropes.
Whenever Matthysse (34-3, 32 KOs), 30, of Argentina, would swing, there were audible gasps from the crowd waiting for the big shot to connect. But Garcia was tight with his defense and cautious. He would not let his hands go early, obviously concerned about what might come back in return. Finally, in the fourth round, Garcia began to open up. He landed a thunderous right hand to the body but Matthysse did not budge. Then Garcia landed a clean right to the head near the end of the round, and again, Matthysse did not budge.
Garcia flirted with a point deduction in the fifth round when referee Tony Weeks issued him his second warning of the fight for a clear low blow that made Matthysse wince. Matthysse connected with a solid combination just as the round ended as Garcia got caught up in the ropes.
The fight changed dramatically in the seventh round when Matthysse’s right eye began to swell badly. It was almost closed by the end of the round, when Garcia was landing shots Matthysse could not see. Early in the eighth, Garcia landed a clean left hook on Matthysse’s eye. He most obviously did not see the punch coming.
Garcia dominated most of the second half of the fight, although Matthysse did knock Garcia’s mouthpiece out early in the 11th round.
“He hit me right on the chin; that was a great shot,” Garcia said. “But I sucked it up. I’m a warrior.”
Later in the round, Garcia landed a right-left-right combination, and Matthysse pitched forward and went down for the first time in his career. Garcia landed a brutal low blow in the 12th round, and Weeks took away a point, but it was too little, too late for Matthysse, who was gracious in defeat.
“He’s a great champion. I knew I was in a great fight and that he wasn’t intimidated by the punching,” Matthysse said. “I only had one eye for most of the fight, but there is no excuse. He fought a great fight. I am very proud of what I did; I am thankful for the opportunity. Garcia is a great champion.”
