By Jake Donovan
Former amateur standout Danny Garcia remains perfect as a professional after scoring a seventh-round technical knockout over journeyman Christopher Fernandez on Friday evening at The Arena in his hometown of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Garcia weighed 141 ½ lb and Fernandez checked in at 141 lb. for their Telefutura-televised main event.
The early rounds were spirited and surprisingly competitive, though never to the point where Garcia was in danger of falling behind. The undefeated prospect was economical with his attack, aiming for consistency rather than pushing for a knockout. Body shots were key in neutralizing Fernandez, who showed plenty of heart as he continued to come forward.
An overhand right hand early in the third had Fernandez in trouble and the crowd on its feet as Garcia proceeded to unload while his foe was trapped along the ropes. A stoppage appeared well within reach until Fernandez landed a bomb that had Garcia momentarily stunned and forced to clinch.
Things returned to normal in the fourth, with Garcia sliding back just far enough to stay out of his opponent’s punching range, but close enough to score with left hooks. A well-placed right hand to the body had Fernandez frozen just long enough for Garcia to come back upstairs. Fernandez never budged, but was left to contend with a cut over his right eye.
It was assumed going in that Fernandez had no chance of winning, and became more evident as the fight went on. But that was all the more reason for the Salt Lake City native to fight with a nothing-to-lose attitude, which was how he began the fifth. Garcia wanted to work behind his jab, but Fernandez continued to come forward, allowing him to score with a right hand early on, and another one late that caught Garcia by surprise.
Fernandez continued to press in the sixth, forcing Garcia to trade far more than box, though such strategy would eventually backfire in a very big way as he awakened a sleeping giant.
It was a power punching display in the seventh, with Garcia scoring with a right hand early in the round to energize the crowd, who remained on their feet until the very end.
The end came about a minute or so later, after Garcia scored with a monster left hook and several right hands. Fernandez was all but out on his feet yet somehow possessed the wherewithal to continue to fight back.
He was too brave for his own good and to their credit, his corner recognized as such and immediately jumped on the ring apron with towel in tow to rescue their fighter. The surrender was hardly necessary as referee Steve Smoger had his eye on Fernandez from the first landed right hand in the round, watching attentively before jumping in at precisely the right moment.
That moment came at 1:18 of the seventh round.
Garcia rolls to 17-0 (11KO) with the win, already his third of 2010, and fourth win in a span of just five months. Despite the fight being tougher than expected, it serves in the end as a valuable learning experience, giving Garcia the confidence that he can eventually break his opponent down if enough patience is exuded.
Such was the lesson he walked away with after making things way too hard for himself in his last fight, an awkward but well-deserved ten-round decision over Ashley Theophane earlier this year on ESPN2 Friday Night Fights.
In that fight, Garcia drew criticism for abandoning his jab, turning an easy night’s work into a laboring task and ultimately a distance fight.
He managed to close the show here, and just in time as Fernandez showed little signs of going away quietly before being punched into Palookaville.
Despite the gutsy effort, Fernandez is forced to head home with his third straight loss, falling to 18-10-1 (10KO) overall.
In other action, local favorite Karl Dargan took his time before scoring a fifth round stoppage over upside-down tomato can Jorge Diaz. The official time was 2:12 of the fifth round.
Dargan improves to 9-0 (5KO). It took a couple of years, but he finally has a little thing called momentum in his favor. After injuries and other issues prevented the nephew of top trainer Naazim Richardson from remaining very active in his first few years as a pro, he now has four fights in the past eight months, including two televised fights in his Philadelphia hometown.
Heading in the opposite direction. Diaz falls to 7-12-1 (0KO). The Miami-based Cuban has now lost three straight, with only two wins sandwiched between 11 losses sandwiched in between then and now.
The show was presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Joe Hand Promotions.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .
