IT was meant to be a Homecoming Party for Danny Garcia, fighting for the first time in his father?s birth place of Puerto Rico. The party nearly became a nightmare as unheralded Mauricio Herrera pushed Garcia all the way before losing a hotly-disputed majority decision. In his post-fight interview Garcia said that he would talk to his team about a probable move to the welterweight division, and that he had been fighting at 140lbs for years. It had certainly been a lacklustre performance by the champion, as he allowed Herrera to dictate the pace of the fight. Garcia had looked lethargic from the first bell as Herrera grew in confidence round after round.
Herrera, of California, was boxing well, mixing up, and by moving in and out of range landing sneaky right hands off some harmful jabs to the body. The challenger?s speed was certainly a problem for Garcia, his father and trainer colourfully yelling at him between rounds to up his work.
As the fight entered the championship rounds on my card I had the fighters even. There was open scoring for this bout, certainly a talking point that some are for but many are against as it can have too much impact on how a fighter boxes the remaining rounds if he knows he is miles ahead. Garcia was ahead on the judges? cards but that didn’t stop him having his best round of the fight in the 11th. Herrera did respond in the 12th as he took the fight to the champion, determined to make sure he had scored the upset.
Herrera was to be disappointed. Two judges (Carlos Colon and Alejandro Rochin) scored this fight 116-112 for Garcia. Certainly far too wide for such a close fight. The judge that came out with most respect was Gustavo Padilla who had the fight a draw at 114-114. Garcia remains the champ although his time at 140 could be over with only an unification against Lamont Peterson a possibility. Herrera will hope to remain in the mix for titles, whatever happens to Garcia.
Bobby Hunter’s Scorecard
Round 1…. 10-9 Garcia
Round 2…. 9-10 Herrera
Round 3…. 9-10 Herrera
Round 4…. 10-9 Garcia
Round 5…. 9-10 Herrera
Round 6…. 10-9 Garcia
Round 7…. 9-10 Herrera
Round 8…. 10-9 Garcia
Round 9…. 9-10 Herrera
Round 10.. 10-9 Garcia
Round 11.. 10-9 Gracia
Round 12.. 9-10 Herrera
TOTAL : 114-114 DRAW
Compubox Punch Stats
Herrera – 695 Punches thrown, 221 Landed = 32% connect rate Garcia – 675 Punches thrown, 204 Landed = 30% connect rate
Average Score from Boxing Writers and percentage of votes
115-113 Mauricio Herrera
70 per cent of media scored for Herrera
12.5 per cent of media scored for Garcia
17.5 per cent of media scored fight a Draw
Boxing Media Scores:
Tom Gray (Ring Magazine) : 115-113 Garcia*
Andy Paterson (Boxing Asylum) : 115-113 Herrera
Phil D Jay (World Boxing News) : 115-113 Garcia*
V2 Boxing : 115-114 Garcia*
Paul Daley (Top Class Boxing) : 114-114 Draw **
Alex Morris (KTC Boxing) : 115-113 Herrera
UK Fighthype : 115-113 Herrera
Chris Davies (LCD Boxing) : 116-112 Herrera
John A MacDonald (Live Fight) : 116-112 Herrera
Kevin McRae (Bleacher Report) : 115-113 Herrera
Al Bernstein (Showtime TV) : 116-113 Herrera
Steve Farhood (Showtime TV) : 116-112 Herrera
Paulie Malignaggi (Showtime TV) : 116-113 Herrera
Michael Woods (The Sweet Science) : 116-112 Herrera
Scott Christ (Bad Left Hook) : 114-114 Draw
ESPN : 114-114 Draw **
Adam Abramowitz (Saturday Night Boxing) : 116-112 Garcia*
Adam Roberts (Check Hook Boxing) : 116-112 Garcia*
Victor M Salazar (Tha Boxing Voice) : 115-113 Herrera
Bradley Edwards (Freelance) : 116-112 Herrera
Cliff Rold (Boxingscene) : 115-113 Herrera
John Wharton (KCC Boxing Show) : 114-114 Draw**
Steve Kim (Maxboxing) : 115-113 Herrera
Jessie Ian Lardies (The Boxing Tribune) : 115-113 Herrera
Luis Sandoval (Boxingscene) : 115-113 Herrera
Kurt Ward (Boxing Asylum) : 114-114 Draw**
The Boxing Expert : 116-112 Herrera
Mark Ortega (Ring Magazine) : 114-114 Draw**
Tim Starks (The QueensBerry Rules) : 115-113 Herrera
Tommy Allan (Boxingscene) : 115-113 Herrera
Lem Sattersfield (Ring Magazine) : 115-113 Garcia*
Steve Lillis (Boxnation TV) : 116-112 Herrera
Barry Jones (Boxnation TV) : 116-113 Herrera
Ciaran Shanks (Irvine Times) : 115-114 Herrera
Gabriel Montoya (Maxboxing) : 116-112 Herrera
Mike Coppinger (USA Today) : 115-113 Herrera
Livefight.com : 114-114 Draw**
Boxing.com : 116-112 Herrera
The Cruellest Sport : 115-114 Herrera
