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Nick Parkinson
Lightweight sensation Ryan Garcia takes on Luke Campbell for the vague provisional lightweight title at the DAZN card main event at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on Saturday.
Garcia (20-0, 17 KOs) has won four of his last five stoppage fights, including an impressive first round knockout over Francisco Fonseca on February 14. Campbell (20-3, 16 KOs) has not fought since losing a unanimous decision challenging Vasiliy Lomachenko for the lightweight championship in August 2019.
In the main co-event, Rene Alvarado defends his “regular” lightweight WBA junior title against Roger Gutierrez in a 12-round battle.
Alvarado (32-8, 21 KOs) won eight consecutive fights, including six by stoppage, since a decision loss to Yuriorkis Gamboa almost four years ago. Gutierrez (24-3-1, 20 KOs) suffered consecutive defeats to Oscar Duarte and Hector Tanajara in 2018, but won five consecutive fights, four by stoppage.
Also on the card, Rene’s twin brother Felix Alvarado (35-2, 30 KOs) defends his junior IBF flyweight world title against DeeJay Kriel (16-1-1, 8 KOS) in a 12 round fight.
Stay here for live undercard results and analysis.
Ryan Garcia has his hands involved by trainer Eddy Reynoso before his provisional title fight against Luke Campbell at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on Saturday. (Photo by Ed Keenan / Folden Boy Promotions)
Fight in progress: Rene Alvarado vs. Roger Gutierrez, 12 rounds, for the title of “regular” lightweight junior of the WBA of Alvarado
Results:
F. Alvarado defeats Kriel in TKO victory
Felix Alvarado shone in his debut in the United States, scoring two knockdowns in a tenth round stoppage victory over DeeJay Kriel to defend his IBF flyweight world title.
After not fighting boxing in 2020, Alvardo – René’s twin brother, also in action on the same card – showed that his power highlights him as one of the best in the world with 108 pounds in his second world title defense.
Alvarado (36-2, 31 KOs), 31, from Nicaragua, served a warning with a quick start and then Kriel (15-2-1, 8 KOs), 25, with a left hook that landed level on his chin in the second round. Kriel survived admirably for a torrid minute and a half until the end of the second round, with a big right hand on his chin in the process.
Alvarado hit a series of kicks in the fourth round and deposited the South African on the screen again with a left hook. But Kriel, a former strawweight champion and quality operator, bravely came back shooting with quick hands.
Kriel narrowed the points margin in the intermediate rounds, but was almost overwhelmed at the end of the 9th Round when Alvarado increased the pressure. Alvarado sustained his attack in the 10th round and it was enough to force a stoppage after 1 minute and 39 seconds when he landed a series of unanswered punches.
Curiel overcomes Agaton in TKO victory
Raul Curiel came out of the gate fast and never gave in, striking Ramses Agaton for more than four minutes on his way to a unilateral TKO victory in the second round.
Curiel (9-0, 7 KOs) focused on the body at the beginning, and a left hook in the liver doubled over Agaton, who fell to his knees in frustration. The fight seemed to be on the verge of a stoppage at the end of Round 1 after a flurry of punches against the ropes, but Agaton (22-13-3, 12 KOs) lasted long enough to hear the bell at the end of the first round.
The aggression did not stop with the start of Round 2, however, as a perpetual flurry of right hooks and left uppercuts landed consistently. Agaton, whose right eye closed with swelling, was unable to protect himself and his corner threw in the towel at 1:16.
According to CompuBox, Curiel outlanded Agaton 43-10, despite throwing virtually the same amount of punches (108 for Curiel, 107 for Agaton).
Younger Garcia remains undefeated with majority decision win
Lightweight Sean Garcia, Ryan Garcia’s younger brother, was undefeated with a much-disputed majority victory over Rene Marquez by 38-38, 39-37 and 39-37.
Garcia (5-0, 2 KOs), had a more difficult time than expected against Marquez (5-5, 2 KOs). Marquez continued to advance, hitting body punches and throwing his right hand whenever Garcia was close. Garcia, 20, managed to land more punches in round 3, but ended the fight tired – a product of Marquez’s body attack.
According to CompuBox, Garcia landed 48 out of 161 punches in total, while Marquez, 31, was able to land only 30 out of 185. Garcia also landed 43 of his strength punches, while Marquez landed only 22.