PORTER vs GARCIA
But not all the scribes at ringside agree with the judges’ verdict
Top American welterweights divide opinion in a close and captivating clash
EVERY now and then a decision is rendered that seems fair when announced, yet is met with controversy afterwards. The latest being Shawn Porter’s unanimous verdict win over Danny Garcia for the vacant WBC welterweight title at the Barclays Center (Dibella Entertainment/ TGB Promotions/sampson Boxing).
The 115-113 scores of judges Julie Lederman and Eric Marlinski (same as me), and Don Ackerman’s 116-112 were met with only mild protest from the 13,058 in attendance. However, when I made my way back to the press room post-fight, I was stopped by a number of my colleagues who thought Garcia had done enough to at least garner a draw. Considering that the officials agreed on only four of the 12 rounds, the door was certainly open for debate.
Sometimes fights are decided on momentum, something Garcia had over the first three rounds, before Porter snatched it away from him. Garcia’s early success in landing power punches might actually have been his eventual undoing. The Philadelphian appeared to be looking for a knockout instead of putting rounds in the bank. Porter adjusted well, moving laterally, jabbing, rushing Garcia and banging the body.
In the seventh, Porter led with his head and was warned by referee Steve Willis. Garcia was flustered and adopted the tactic of locking the Las Vegas resident’s arms, holding tightly which prevented him from working on the inside. And so it went back and forth. Garcia had good moments, rocking Porter with a left hook to close out the 10th; a round in which they fought furiously for the entire three minutes. The fast pace continued, with Porter’s body attack putting him firmly in control in the 11th, before Garcia rallied in the last minute of the fight to at least end things on a high note. “I thought I did enough to win. It was close. The judges didn’t give it to me,” said Garcia philosophically when it was over. There is no clear career path for the former two-weight world titlist at the moment, which is not the case for Porter, who is now a two-time belt-holder at 147lbs. The Akron, Ohio native enthusiastically accepted the challenge put to him by IBF welterweight boss Errol Spence Jnr, who entered the ring right after the decision was announced. Spence will start as a heavy favourite if the contest does come off, but that will fuel Porter more than it will discourage him. EX-IBF heavyweight champ Charles Martin lost a unanimous 10-round decision to unbeaten Pole Adam Kownacki, but in the process redeemed himself. St. Louis-born Martin showed the type of resolve that was lacking when he was KO’D by Anthony Joshua in 2016.
Not many heavyweight fights are better than this one. Kownacki, who had the support of a large Polish delegation, brought the pressure and hurt Martin on several occasions. Martin looked like being dropped numerous times, but always regrouped and fought fiercely back. The last minute of the match was a classic. Both took turns rocking the other, which left the crowd in a frenzy. At the end, Kownacki was just a bit too strong, capturing the win by 96-94 on the scorecards of Joseph Pasquale, John Stewart and Carlos Ortiz Jnr. Kownacki’s margin of victory looked to be greater than that, but the respect he earned on this night made the final tally a moot point. Michael Griffin refereed.
It was difficult to sit through the dreadful 12-rounder between Cuba’s
Yordenis Ugas and Argentina’s Cesar Barrionuevo. It became apparent to Barrionuevo early on that the bigger Ugas was much stronger than him. As a result, he went into survival mode and only periodically stopped to exchange punches. Ugas moved forward and tried to make a fight of it, but had difficulty tracking his elusive opponent down. Still, it was extremely one-sided, as evidenced by the official scorecards. At 120-108, John Mckaie and Kevin Morgan gave Ugas every round. Tom Schreck, meanwhile, awarded Barrionuevo only one session for a 119-109 score. Ricky Gonzalez officiated.
Amanda Serrano became a sixdivision world champion in defeating Argentina’s Yamila Reynoso for the vacant WBO female super-lightweight crown; a wonderful achievement by any measure. However, Showtime did not televise the contest on its main cable channel, which surely would not have been the case if a man were similarly vying for such an impressive accolade.
The feeling beforehand was that locally based Puerto Rican Serrano would win easily. And that is how she fought in the opening round, unloading on her opponent who took everything Serrano dished out and kept coming forward. But Reynoso surprised Serrano with her strength, and by the middle rounds had her retreating. Serrano boxed effectively from the outside and survived several uncomfortable moments to be firmly in control by the time the 10-twos bout ended. The three 99-91 tallies were a touch harsh on Reynoso.
WBC heavyweight king Deontay Wilder has a younger brother who is a pretty good puncher too. Undefeated Northport, Alabama cruiserweight Marsellos Wilder demonstrated this fact by dispatching Turlock, California’s Ryan Williams at 2-34 of the first round (slated for four). Williams was sagging on the ropes when referee Griffin halted the action.
THE VERDICT Spence looks like being next for Porter, but the future for Garcia is not as clear.