By Keith Idec
NEW YORK – Angel Garcia scoffed at the idea Lamont Peterson beat his son Saturday night at Barclays Center.
“I thought Peterson ran, man,” Angel Garcia said following Danny Garcia’s majority decision win in their 12-round welterweight fight. “I could tell what the game plan was for them. It was to run for the first half and then try to come strong at the end, steal the round in the last 30 seconds, 40 seconds, maybe [with] a minute [left].
“But you don’t win like that. … I thought [Danny] won. Peterson didn’t win again. He didn’t win – he ran. I think if he would’ve came in early, he wouldn’t went down early.”
There weren’t any knockdowns during a very competitive fight Philadelphia’s Garcia (30-0, 17 KOs) won on two of three scorecards. Judges Kevin Morgan and Steve Weisfeld scored the fight 115-113 for Garcia, while the third judge, Don Ackerman, had it even (114-114).
As you might expect, Danny Garcia was much more diplomatic about his victory over Peterson (33-3-1, 17 KOs), of Washington, D.C., than his blunt, polarizing father.
“It was a tough, competitive fight, just like any other fight at this level,” said Danny Garcia, who suffered swelling around his right eye. “I fought a top-level guy. We went in there, we mixed it up. You know, he moved, he came at me at the end and I found a way to win, like I always do. No excuses.”
Danny Garcia also complimented Peterson’s ability to execute his strategy during the second half of bout Garcia controlled early.
“I came to fight [Saturday night],” Garcia, 27, said. “He came with his game plan. He did good. I felt like I did good. And I’m just happy the fans enjoyed the fight.”
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
