Garcia gets it done on short notice over Gonzalez

Garcia gets it done on short notice over Gonzalez

Friday night in Chicago, Ill., 33-year old Roberto Garcia (34-3, 22 knockouts) won a highly spirited, competitive split decision against 32-year old Norberto Gonzalez (20-3, 13 KOs). The scores read 96-93, 95-94 for Garcia and 95-94 for Gonzalez.

Both men had their moments in the fight and it was a good action fight at times as well. Garcia was the stronger fighter throughout the fight while Gonzalez boxed well at times. Garcia lost a point in round eight for pushing with his forearm that nearly cost him this victory.

Garcia, who is originally from Mexico but is now fighting out of Texas, has won six in a row since losing a unanimous decision to Antonio Margarito in 2010. Gonzalez had won two in a row prior to this loss. The bout was fought in the middleweight division.

Garcia took the bout on extremely short notice after Jonathan Gonzalez fell out with just weeks left before the bout. The lack of preparation didn’t hurt him enough to cost him the fight as he looked very sharp.

In a featherweight contest, 23-year old Kamil Laszczyk (15-0, 7 KOs) scored a knockdown with a straight right hand on Daniel Diaz in round one en route to an easy unanimous decision victory. The scores read 79-72, 79-72, 78-73.

Laszczyk stepped up in competition against the 28-year old veteran Diaz (20-5-1, 15 KOs) who was coming off the best win of his career. Diaz won a split decision over former title challenger Robert Marroquin this past June. This was a very nice victory for Laszczyk against the best opponent he has ever faced.

18-year old welterweight prospect Erickson “Hammer” Lubin (3-0, 3 KOs) defeated Roberto Acevedo (13-13-3, 1 KO) as Acevedo quit in his corner after the first round due to a hand injury.

The card was televised on ESPN2.

-David Lopez / @PRLopez333

-Contributor to www.BehindTheGloves.com