Junior welterweight contender Ryan Garcia stopped Oscar Duarte late in the eighth round on Saturday at Toyota Center in Houston.
The key blow was a left hook that rocked Duarte with about 30 seconds left in the round. Garcia followed with a flurry that put Duarte down. And the Mexican failed to beat the count.
The official time of the stoppage was 2:51 of Round 8.
Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) controlled the fight by jabbing, sticking and moving, landing mostly single power shots and then moving out of harm’s way to avoid taking much in return.
Duarte (26-2-1, 21 KOs) was at his most effective in Rounds 5 and 6, when he pressured a more stationery Garcia and trapped him against the ropes a few times.
However, Garcia got back to moving after that, which frustrated the hard-charging Mexican.
Duarte had demonstrated repeatedly that he could take Garcia’s power punches … until he couldn’t. The left hook landed on his temple, buckled his legs and left him helpless.
Garcia was coming off his first loss, a seventh-round knockout against Gervonta Davis in April.
A full report will follow shortly.
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Ryan Garcia is scheduled to face Oscar Duarte tonight (Saturday) at Toyota Center in Houston (DAZN).
It will be 140-pound contender’s first fight since he suffered a seventh-round knockout against Gervonta Davis at a 136-pound catch weight in one of the biggest fights of the year on April 22.
Duarte (26-1-1, 21 KOs) is a hard-punching Mexican who has never faced anyone at the level of Garcia (23-1, 19 KOs).
The featured portion of the show is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT.
Boxing Junkie will post the result and a brief summary immediately after the fight ends. Simply return to this post and refresh when the time comes.
Full coverage – a detailed fight story, analysis and more – will follow on separate posts the night of the card and the following day.
Enjoy the fights!
