Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas – Former two division world champion Danny Garcia (34-1, 20 KOs) knocked out a very game Brandon Rios (34-4-1, 24 KOs) in the ninth round.
The bout was the first for Garcia since losing a twelve round split decision last March at the hands of Keith Thurman in their WBC, WBA welterweight clash from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
The WBC had sanctioned the bout as a final world title eliminator, – but Shawn Porter is still first in line to get a mandatory crack at Thurman.
Garcia started the fight by boxing and counter-punching an incoming Rios, who mostly ate leather and didn’t do much in the first. Rios was applying a lot of pressure in the second, and was letting his hands go, but most of his punches were missing the mark as Garcia was landing well to the head and body.
Rios was able to connect with a few punches early in the third, but Garcia came back with several combinations that landed flush. The fourth was very active, with both landing, but it was Garcia landing the hard and flusher shots. The fifth saw a lot of leather being thrown, with both connecting well. Garcia controlled the action, but Rios was not making it easy for him.
Rios was really working hard in the sixth as he was taking the fight to Garcia, who was looking to regroup and making adjustments. In the sixth, Rios continued to rally as Garcia was moving around the ring and countering. The eight was close and could have gone either way, as both had their moments of success.
Rios started strong in the ninth, taking the fight to Garcia and pushing him around the ring. But then Garcia landed a huge right hand the send Rios down hard and initially he appeared to be out cold. But Rios somehow managed to get to his feet, with the referee waving off the fight.
