By Jake Donovan
Less than five minutes of total action between the main event and co-feature - not exactly a time capsule night for Telefutura Solo Boxeo.
A gross mismatch on paper became even more so in reality, as Philly-bred junior welterweight prospect Danny Garcia made quick work of hopelessly overmatched John Figueroa in their televised main event Friday evening at the Four Points Sheraton in San Diego, California.
An unanswered flurry was enough to convince the referee to stop the fight at 0:52 of the second round.
Garcia’s his 2010 campaign was supposed to be one where the former amateur standout was supposed to advanced from novice to full-fledged prospect. It was mission accomplished, as he impressed in televised wins over Ashley Theophane and Mike Arnaoutis, among others.
The normal course of progression is to look at fringe contenders and gradually work your way up towards eventual title contention. Given his extensive amateur background and that he’s now in his fourth year as a pro, it stands to reason that Garcia is ready for such a move.
Yet for whatever reason, his level of opposition took a colossal step backwards.
It can’t even be argued that Figueroa, sub .500 going into the evening, even came to fight. The Puerto Rican journeyman offered little resistance, even though Garcia barely even pressed.
The opening round saw Garcia looking to brush up on his stellar boxing skills, easing his way into the evening while Figueroa didn’t offer much of anything in return.
After spending a round or so warming up, Garcia went to work in the second – and just like that, the night was over.
A series of head shots had Figueroa throwing up ear muffs and not punching back in return. Garcia wisely went to the body, yet was warned by the referee for a punch that wasn’t even close to being low.
The fickle call prompted Garcia to go back upstairs, where right hands and left hooks had Figueroa in trouble and not showing any willingness to fight back. His body language was enough to convince the ref to step up where the evening’s matchmakers failed miserably, putting an end to a disappointing evening.
Garcia’s record advances to 20-0 (14KO) with the win, though one can only hope that much tougher tests lie ahead for a talented prospect who deserves much better.
Figueroa heads back to La Isla Encanta with his fourth straight loss as he falls to 7-9-3 (2KO).
BATTLE OF UNBEATENS ENDS IN BLINK OF AN EYE
In what was supposed to serve as the most competitive bout of the evening, Marco Antonio Periban instead turned a battle of unbeaten 10-0 prospects into a rout.
The Mexican super middleweight literally wasted no time, taking out previously unbeaten Dion Savage just 33 seconds into their Telefutura televised co-feature battle.
A left-right combination was all it took to begin and end the fight. Savage went down like a ton of bricks, and was far too unsteady and incoherent to convince the referee that he was in any shape to continue. Not another punch was thrown as the bout was waved off.
The quick hit marked a hell of a stateside debut for the 26-year old Periban, with all but one other fight taking place in his native Mexicp. He improves to 11-0 (8KO) with the win, his first of 2011.
Savage heads back to Flint, Michigan with the first loss of his career as he falls to 10-1 (6KO).
OTHER TELEVISED ACTION
It’s not often that a scheduled four round swing bout winds up lasting longer than the rest of the televised show combined, but such was the case in a featherweight bout featuring local favorite Pablo Armenta (5-0-1, 1KO).
The undefeated San Diegan had no problems in taking a four-round shutout over Alejandro Cruz (3-13-2, 2KO), winning 40-36 across the board.
Adrian Vargas (1-0, 0KO) enjoyed a successful pro debut, scoring a shutout win (40-36, x3) over Frankie Martinez (0-2-1NC, 0KO).
Henzel Martinez (10-0, 8KO) was taken the distance for just the second time as a pro, barely keeping his undefeated record intact as he survived a scare against Alejandro Solorio (4-3, 3KO) en route to a majority decision win in their four-round bantamweight bout. Scores were 38-38 and 39-37 (twice) Martinez.
The show was presented by Golden Boy Promotions.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter at twitter.com/JakeNDaBox or submit questions/comments to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .
