Danny Garcia Too Swift, Too Much For Mike Arnaoutis

By Jake Donovan

Former amateur standout Danny Garcia remained unbeaten after dominating Mike Arnaoutis en route to a fourth round knockout on Friday evening at the South Philly Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Garcia weighed 143 lb; Arnaoutis was slightly lighter at 142 ½ lb.

There was never a point in the fight in which Garcia wasn’t in control. Arnaoutis fought with confidence in the first few rounds, but still spent most of his time plodding forward while not landing anything of substance. Garcia was able to get in several left hooks, although the hometown crowd cheered wildly anytime he threw a punch, much less landed one.

The crowd was given plenty of reason to cheer at the end of the third round, when Arnaoutis hit the deck hard. A straight right hand set up a right hand, left hook combination that floored the former junior welterweight contender, who got up and then fell back down again all during referee Gary Rosato’s mandatory count.

Arnaoutis made it to his feet in time and somehow convinced the third man to give him at least one more round to continue. He was granted the benefit of the doubt of being able to recover with the minute rest between rounds, but that only lasted until Garcia once again began throwing punches.

From there, the end was just around the corner.

A right hand drove Arnaoutis into the ropes, where he took another looping right and a left hook, the latter sending him to the canvas for the second time in the fight. He managed to roll over and was on all fours as the referee issued his count, but was interrupted when his corner came racing into the ring with surrender flag in tow.

The official time was 1:05 of the fourth round.

After having never previously appeared in his hometown, Garcia has now spent three of his last five fights in the City of Brotherly Love. He continues to win while Golden Boy Promotions attempts to build him as a local attraction.

With performances like this, the fans will keep coming back. Garcia picks up his third straight knockout as he improves to 19-0 (13KO).

Arnaoutis’ once promising career continues to spiral out of control. He has now suffered four straight losses, and five in his last six contests as he falls to 22-7-2 (10KO).

Local favorite Victor Vazquez dodged a major bullet with a debatable split decision win over Bryne Green in their six-round co-feature battle.

Scores were 57-56 (twice) for Vazquez and 57-56 for Green.

Things began well for Vazquez but went south in a hurry once he hit the deck midway through the bout. Vazquez struggled to regain control, but was saved in the fifth when a low blow gave him a few extra minutes to clear his head.

The Philly junior lightweight was able to finish strong, apparently just enough to offset the damage produced by the knockout in pulling ahead on two of the three scorecards to squeak out the win.

Vazquez improves to 12-4-1 (6KO) with the win, his first since earlier this year, having since suffered a loss and a draw. The fight was his 16th straight in Philly, having fought in his hometown in every fight but his pro debut, which took place an hour away in Reading.

Though some will argue that the fight should have went the other way, Green still leaves with his third straight loss, as he heads home to Orlando with a record of 5-4 (3KO).

The show was presented by Golden Boy Promotions and aired live on Telefutura.