By Cliff Rold (photo by Tom Casino/Showtime)
The fans on hand at the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez, California, were rewarded with one of the wildest Welterweight brawls so far in 2009 as undefeated 26-year old Carlos Abregu (27-0, 22 KO) of Argentina was forced to come off the floor twice to stop the game, determined Irving Garcia (17-4-3, 8 KO), 30 of Puerto Rico in a four round war.
Both men weighed in just above the division limit of 147 lbs., Abregu at 148 and Garcia at 147 ¼.
Abregu appeared tight at the opening bell, pawing with his left jab while a relaxed Garcia shot his for contact. An Abregu right hand glanced off of Garcia but the Puerto Rican stepped to the side and countered with his own right. As a battle of the jabs ensued, Garcia continued to beat Abregu to the mark but a partially blocked Abregu left hook forced Garcia off balance and towards the ropes. Garcia recovered his balance and circled to his left, patiently waiting for an opening. It arrived when Abregu threw a right hand and left it out too long, allowing Garcia to counter with a flush right hand to drive Abregu to the seat of his trunks.
Abregu bounced up at two, taking the mandatory eight, and returned to the action to find a stalking Garcia nailing him with another pair of rights. In the final minute, a left and right jarred Abregu as did two more right hands before the bell closed the opening frame.
Shooting his jab with more authority to start the second, the Argentine got right back into the fight with a huge, slashing right to stagger Garcia complimented by a left to the ribs. Stumbling against and then along the ropes, Garcia blocked a right uppercut and straight right before dropping his defenses and having his head whipped downward by another clubbing Abregu right. His knees wobbling, Garcia leaned into the ropes, eating hooks from each of Abregu’s leathered fists.
Suddenly, it was Abregu who could not miss, pursuing with both hands. A four-punch combination was followed with a crackling right uppercut and then another right hand but Garcia kept his feet. Only a minute had gone by and Garcia was willing himself to stay up and move. In a clinch as they neared one minute to go, Abregu pushed Garcia to the floor and referee Jack Reiss stated he needed to “pelea mas.” One power shot after another rained down, some muffled by the guard of Garcia, most not. A left uppercut and right hand again saw Garcia flagging but the aggression of Abregu would allow vulnerability and another wild shift of momentum.
Loading up with everything he had, Garcia connected with a perfect right over the top against an onrushing Abregu and suddenly the Argentine was forced to his back foot and delivering a beating for over two minutes. His legs still weak, a shove from Abregu as Garcia came forward sent him sprawling across the floor and Reiss warned Abregu before ruling no knockdown had occurred. The final twenty seconds featured Abregu back on the offense and pasting Garcia with power shots.
Round three opened with fire from both men, each landing a hard right to back the other up. A counter one-two scored for Garcia and Abregu circled away cautiously. Cautious would describe the next couple minutes of the bout as both men looked for single big shots but avoided the wild exchanges of earlier. Near the minute mark, Garcia landed yet another straight right countered by Abregu with a jarring right uppercut. There would be two more loaded exchanges before the round closed.
The early advantage in the fourth would be to Garcia on the first big right of the round and has had been the case in the third the men fought at an intense but measured pace. At the midway point, Abregu scored with a sweeping left hook but, as he had in the first, left his chin high and paid for it. Standing at ring center, Garcia countered an Abregu charge with a short left hook and Abregu found the floor for the second time. Up by four but far more hurt than he had been earlier, Abregu stepped forward on wilted stems, moving away and flailing for clinches.
He succeeded in halting the offense of Garcia and preyed upon Garcia’s rapidly swelling left eye with a right in the closing seconds which again saw fortunes swing. With less than ten seconds to go, Abregu reached deep into the well and unspooled a furious combination of power shots against his shaken foe, splitting the skin between the eyes of Garcia and pounding him to the floor near a ring corner. Garcia’s head snapped violently along the bottom rope as gravity took hold, blinking and then attempting to rise but Reiss had seen enough and waved off the fight a split second before the bell, officially stopped at 2:59 of round number four.
Resting his head against the turnbuckle, his arms draping the ropes on either side, he looked up at Reiss and mouthed “Why?” before sitting forward with his head down, defeat settling into his senses and a brief flash of grief crossing his face. Across the ring, Abregu leapt onto the ropes, soaking in the cheers of the fans. They would later salute Garcia as well.
With character and heart displayed all around, both men had earned the respect of anyone who caught their memorable encounter.
The televised opener featured Lightweights in eight more rounds of spirited action. In a bout which regularly featured heated exchanges, Mexico’s 22-year old Marvin Quintero (16-1, 12 KO), 134, forced the fight he wanted with aggression and an impressive straight left hand. 23-year old Wes Ferguson (20-4-1, 6 KO), 134, of Las Vegas, Nevada, could never get into the boxing rhythm he needed and lacked the physical strength to discourage his foe though he continued to fire in hope of a change. The final scores of 79-73 and 78-74 twice sent Quintero home with his twelfth straight win while Ferguson exited with his third loss in seven starts.
The bouts were televised as part of U.S. premium cable outlet Showtime’s “ShoBox” series, promoted by Gary Shaw Promotions.
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com