Danny Garcia stops Samuel Vargas in 7; next up: Keith Thurman battle royale
Danny Garcia warmed up for his huge welterweight unification bout against Keith Thurman next year with an easy TKO victory against vastly overmatched Samuel Vargas Saturday night at the Liacouris Center on the campus of Temple University in Garcia's hometown of Philadelphia.
Then the undefeated WBC welterweight champ got into a heated face-to-face jawing session with his next opponent.
Garcia used all the punches in his repertoire, including his vaunted left hook, a big right hand and a stiff jab, to make easy work of Vargas (25-3-1), in what was little more than a glorified sparring session.
Garcia dropped Vargas with a powerful right hand in the first round, dropping Vargas back so quickly that the challenger did a backwards somersault, and barely beat the count as the bell rang.
Garcia, who improved to 33-0 with 19 KOs, said he wanted to get some rounds in during his tuneup for Thurman, whom he will meet on March 4 for the WBA and WBC welterweight title in a colossal battle of unbeatens.
By the seventh round Garcia was ready to end it, and got Vargas on the ropes, punishing him with a slew of punches before referee Gary Rosato stepped in and waved off the fight at 2:17 of the round.
"I got beat up in there," said Vargas. "It takes a lot of courage to come to North Philadelphia and fight the champ. It just wasn't my night."
Garcia's thoughts turned immediately to Thurman, who was there to watch his fellow champion and to do guest commentary for the Premier Boxing Champions Spike TV broadcast.
Danny Garcia, left, and Keith Thurman jaw after Garcia's victory against Samuel Vargas Saturday night. (Photo by Ryan Hafey, PBC)
After it was over, Thurman climbed into the ring and got in Garcia's face.
"I just had to tell Keith that he's next," said Garcia. "I'm going to beat him down. There's not much more to say. Keith is going to get what he asked for and now he's going to face a big dog."
Thurman countered with his own verbal jab.
"You have two big punchers meeting on March 4," he said. "I don't see how the fight can go 12 rounds. I see myself as the best competition that Danny has ever faced.
"Danny can talk whatever he wants and Angel Garcia can say whatever he wants. They can talk smack all day. Danny is real flat-footed. I believe I'll be able to be on the outside, see the wide punches and counter punch. They said he wanted the tune-up, now he's ready to see me."
Garcia said he and his father/trainer Angel Garcia continue to be disrespected.
"They underrate me, they underrate (my dad), but we always come out on top, victorious," he said. "I came here to do what I did today. I haven't fought since January, and I came to get some good rounds in an knock my opponent out at the end."
On the undercard, rising prospect Jarrett Hurd remained undefeated with a sixth-round technical knockout against veteran Jo-Jo Dan in a scheduled 10-round super welterweight bout. Hurd (19-0, 13 KOs), from Accokeek, Md., punished Dan, from Romania by way of Quebec, with hard right hands throughout the fight. A thudding right in the sixth by Hurd stunned Dan, who was bleeding from the nose for much of the fight, and Hurd continued the onslaught until Dan's corner threw in the towel at 1:06 of the sixth round. With the loss, Dan fell to 35-4 (18 KOs). . . . Also, Javier Fortuna survived a first-round knockdown and scored a close, unanimous lightweight decision against Omar Douglas, handing Douglas his first career loss. Fortuna (31-1-1, 22 KOs), a southpaw from the Dominican Republic, won by scores of 96-93 twice and 95-94.
(Photo of Garcia, right, connecting against Vargas by Ryan Hafey, PBC)
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