By: Sean Crose
“Ten years ago this would have been a fascinating matchup.” So the PBC broadcast team said before Erislandy Lara and Danny Garcia answered the opening bell to battle for Lara’s WBA middleweight strap Saturday night in Vegas. The fight between the two aging but highly regarded pros wasn’t exciting, but no one could say it wasn’t fascinating. This was NOT the bout people had expected.
The first was a bit slow, as was to be expected in a fight between two aging pros. Lara picked away at Garcia in the second with his southpaw jab. Lara continued to impress in the third. Never an action fighter, the man knew how to do what it took to win – and he was clearly comfortable with how things were going with Garcia. Things continued apace in the fourth. The crowd was being restless at times due to the lack of intense action, but Lara was clearly not going to risk eating a Garcia counter-shot.
Garcia tried to sit on his punches in the fifth, but it might not have been enough to win the multi-divisional titlist the round. Lara engaged in some effective sharp shooting in the sixth. His speed advantage over the seemingly hapless Garcia was telling. “It’s not a fight,” Sergio Maura said on the broadcast team, “it’s a boxing match.” In truth, it was thus far a boxing master class from Lara, who was putting on a clinic. Garcia appeared to be void of ideas in the seventh – which wasn’t shameful considering he was facing Lara – but it didn’t make for a thrilling bout.
Garcia landed a few good shots to the body in the eighth. He appeared sluggish, however, and it was clear he had to become more active. The crowd booed loudly in the ninth as Lara continued to pluck Garcia’s feathers while Garcia appeared to be stymied by inertia. A clean shot took Garcia down at the end of the round. Garcia got up, but his corner stopped the fight. This was not the Garcia fans had remembered. Something was clearly wrong. Hopefully it was all a matter of the stress of the fight game getting the better of a decorated veteran, nothing more.
“I tried to be great,” said Garcia afterward. “It wasn’t my night. No excuses.”
