Tag Archives: Erik Morales

Erislandy Lara to Defend WBA Middleweight Title Against Danny Garcia

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Erislandy Lara is going on the defensive…

The 41-year-old Cuban professional boxer will defend his WBA middleweight title against Danny Garcia on September 14 in Las Vegas, PBC has announced.

Erislandy LaraThe fight will serve as the pay-per-view co-feature on the Canelo Alvarez–Edgar Berlanga card.

Lara-Garcia was originally slated for August 2023 and then was scheduled for the fall.

However, the bout never materialized as PBC network partner Showtime ceased sports programming at the end of the year.

When the fight was planned last year, it was set to take place at a 155-pound catchweight.

Lara (30-3-3, 18 KOs) is coming off a second-round TKO victory over Michael Zerafa in March.

A former 154-pound champion, Lara’s résumé includes a controversial decision loss to Paul Williams, a split-decision defeat to Alvarez and a victory over Austin Trout.

Lara is ESPN’s No. 6 middleweight. His split-decision defeat by Jarrett Hurd in a 154-pound title unification was ESPN’s 2018 Fight of the Year. Lara’s draw with Brian Castano the following year was one of the best fights of 2019.

Garcia (37-3, 21 KOs) is a former unified 140-pound champion and 147-pound titleholder. He rose to prominence with an upset fourth-round TKO victory over Amir Khan in 2012 and followed with a dominant victory over Lucas Matthysse the following year.

His lengthy résumé includes wins over Erik Morales, Zab Judah and Lamont Peterson, along with tight decision defeats to Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter.

The 36-year-old Philadelphian made his 154-pound debut in July 2022 with a majority decision win over Jose Benavidez Jr. He hasn’t competed since.

That was Garcia’s first fight since a December 2020 decision loss to Errol Spence Jr.

Danny Garcia Agrees to Fight Jose Benavidez Jr. in Junior Middleweight Bout

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Danny Garcia is preparing to chase down a title in a third weight class.

The 34-year-old Puerto Rican boxer, a former two-division champion, has agreed to fight Jose Benavidez Jr. in a junior middleweight bout on July 30 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, according to ESPN.

Danny GarciaThe PBC on Showtime main event will mark Garcia’s debut at 154 pounds after he captured titles at 140 and 147.

The Philadelphian fighter hasn’t boxed since a December 2020 loss to Errol Spence Jr. in a welterweight title fight. The 19-month layoff is the longest of Garcia’s career.

Garcia (36-3, 21 KOs) was a unified junior welterweight champion who owns wins over Lucas Matthysse, Amir Khan, Zab Judah and Erik Morales. His other two losses came against Shawn Porter and Keith Thurman in 147-pound title fights.

Benavidez (27-1-1, 18 KOs) suffered the lone loss of his pro career in 2018, a 12th-round TKO loss to Terence Crawford in a 147-pound title fight. The 30-year-old from Phoenix has competed only once since then, a November draw with the unheralded Francisco Emanuel Torres.

The brother of former super middleweight champion David Benavidez, Jose was still dealing with the effects of a gunshot wound to his right leg suffered in August 2016 when he fought Crawford.

Jaime Munguia Defeats Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan in Middleweight Debut

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Jaime Munguiais celebrating a positive step up…

The 23-year-old Mexican boxer and former WBO junior middleweight titlist made a successful debut at middleweight by defeating Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan with an 11th-round TKO at the Alamodome in San Antonio on Saturday night.

Jaime Munguia

While he was able to dominate the late stage of the contest, there were certainly some rough moments for Munguia (35-0, 28 KOs), who, after a quick start in the opening two rounds, was clipped on the chin by a right hand from O’Sullivan that dazed him at the very end of the third.

It took a few rounds for Munguia to truly steady himself, but as he got back to establishing his long, quick jab and focusing more on throwing fast punches, instead of hard ones, the 23-year-old was able to regain full control of the bout. In the seventh round, a low blow sent O’Sullivan to the canvas, and Munguia was deducted a point by referee Mark Calo-oy. But that didn’t dissuade Munguia from consistently attacking the body and then mixing up his attack up top.

“I was confused whether to attack or not, but thanks to my corner, I think I did better at 160,” said Munguia. “I feel like I wore down less ’cause of the weight cut. I felt I threw more punches, more combinations, and it made the difference.”

Give credit to O’Sullivan: Although he was hurt in several rounds, he landed more than his share of punches on Munguia, who left more than a few openings with his hell-bent for leather style. O’Sullivan was staggered in the 10th, and then finally, as he was swarmed by the two-fisted attack of Munguia, he crumbled to the canvas just as the towel was being thrown in by his corner.

Munguia finished with a flourish, but he showed that he is still very much a work-in-progress under the direction of Hall of Famer Erik Morales, who has trained him for the past two fights. Their first outing together was back in September when he halted Patrick Alloteyin four rounds.

It seems as though Morales has made some progress with his young pupil. Yet, there is still plenty more to be learned.

When asked how he would assess his own performance, Munguia said, “I would give myself an eight or nine. I had to do some more things but will take this fight by fight.”

Pablo Cesar Cano to Fight Fidel Maldonado Jr. at the Dallas Cowboys Training Facility

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Pablo Cesar Cano is ready to rumble…

The 27-year-old Mexican professional boxer will face off against fellow hard-hitting junior welterweight Fidel Maldonado Jr. in a 10-round fight on June 17 at the Tostitos Championship Plaza at The Star in Frisco, Texas, according to Golden Boy Promotions.

Pablo Cesar Cano

The fight, which will be the first boxing event to take place at the training facility of the Dallas Cowboys, will headline a “Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN” card (ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes, 10 p.m. ET).

Cano (30-5-1, 21 KOs), a former interim junior welterweight titlist, is as battle-tested as they come, though he lost his biggest fights — decisions against Paulie Malignaggi and Shane Mosley and a 10th-round knockout to Erik Morales in a 2011 junior welterweight world title fight. But he’s also coming off a 10-round split decision against fringe contender Mauricio Herrera in November and hoping to score another win and move on to a bigger fight.

“Even though I have been a professional for 11 years, I feel like I am just hitting my prime,” Cano said. “With a win over Maldonado, I feel like I will be ready to take on the top opponents at 140 pounds and compete for a world title.”

Maldonado (23-3-1, 19 KOs), a 25-year-old southpaw from Albuquerque, New Mexico, is 4-0-1 in his past five bouts since suffering a fifth-round knockout loss to contender Amir Imam in January 2015.

“I can’t wait to get in the ring with Cano and show the Texas fans what I’m all about,” Maldonado said. “People may call this a crossroads fight, but I’m only interested in taking one road — toward a world championship.”

In the co-feature, San Antonio’s Joshua Franco (10-0, 5 KOs), 21, and 24-year-old Oscar Mojica (10-2, 1 KO), of Dallas, will engage in an all-Texas junior bantamweight fight scheduled for eight rounds.

Dallas junior welterweight prospect Vergil Ortiz Jr. (5-0, 5 KOs), who is just 19, will face an opponent to be determined in his first scheduled six-round bout.

Other Dallas-based Golden Boy prospects — junior lightweight Javier Martinez (1-0, 1 KO) and junior middleweight Alex Rincon (1-0, 1 KO) — will also appear on the card as will San Antonio junior lightweight prospect Hector Tanajara Jr. (8-0, 4 KOs).

Garcia Defeats Amir Khan to Claim WBA Title

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Danny Garcia is still undefeated…

The 24-year-old Puerto Rican professional boxer beat heavy favorite Amir Khan in the fourth round to stay undefeated and add another super lightweight belt to his collection on Saturday night.

Danny Garcia

“I always knew I would win this fight,” said Garcia. “I needed a great fighter in front of me to show how great a fighter I am. Now everyone knows.”

Khan bruised Garcia early, even opening a small cut above his eye. But Garcia sent Khan to the canvas in the third round with a left hook, although the 2004 Olympic silver medalist for Britain was able to beat the count.

At the start of the fourth, though, Garcia swarmed him with power punches, knocking him down twice quickly. Khan got back to his feet each time, but the referee ended the bout at 2:28 of the round.

“It wasn’t my night,” said Khan. “I was coming in with my hands down and Danny took advantage of that. He countered very well against me.”

Danny Garcia

Garcia now has the World Boxing Association (WBA) title to go along with his World Boxing Council (WBC) one. He improved his record to 24-0 with 15 knockouts while Khan fell to 26-3 with 18 KOs.

Khan was originally scheduled to face Lamont Peterson on May 19th in a rematch of their December 10th bout in which Peterson took a 12-round split decision to win Khan’s WBA and IBF titles.

Just days before the bout, Peterson tested positive for synthetic testosterone.

The fight was canceled and he was stripped of his WBA title which was later restored to Khan.

Garcia, who beat Erik Morales for the WBC title on March 24 agreed to fight Khan and took full advantage of the opportunity, defeating the popular fighter in spectacular fashion.