Ryan Garcia was troubled by Oscar Duarte’s mauling tactics but found the fight-ending shot in Round 8, a check left hook followed by a barrage of punches that earned him a knockout Saturday night in Houston.
Garcia, in his first fight since an April TKO loss to Gervonta Davis, heard boos in Round 8 and appeared to have the fight slipping away from him. That’s when he unleashed the left hand that wobbled Duarte and eventually sent him to a knee.
Duarte gathered his feet just as the referee’s count reached 10, giving Garcia the knockout win with nine seconds left in Round 8.
“I just had to slow his momentum down,” said Garcia, 25. “He was building momentum, momentum, and I was like, ‘Man, I got to cut this off somehow.’ … He was a strong fighter. He took a good punch. … I hit him with some hard shots, and he just kept coming.
“It was tough. It was very tough. … I have the killer instinct. Sometimes when I hurt somebody that bad, I just be cracking them.”
Duarte, despite taking the big knockdown punch, said he was upset by the ref’s 10-count.
“I feel like it was unfair because I still got up,” Duarte said in remarks translated from Spanish. “I still felt like I could keep going.”
The bout was Garcia’s first with Derrick James, ESPN’s 2022 Trainer of the Year, who replaced Joe Goossen following the loss to Davis.
“Derrick said, ‘Start using your legs a little bit, it’s going to open up the shot,’ and it literally did that,” said Garcia, who earned approximately $30 million for the bout with Davis. “It’s our first fight together. We’re going to build off this, and we’re just going to get better. I’m committed to becoming a world champion.”