“Swift” Garcia Stops Figueroa in Two

“Swift” was just that in bringing the hammer down on an out-of-his-weight class Figueroa on Friday. (Paul Gallegos)He needed a knockout to impress and he did just that.

Danny “Swift” Garcia (20-0, 14 KOs) of Philadelphia stopped John Figueroa (7-9-3, 3 KOs) by way of Salinas, Puerto Rico in the second round of an eight round scheduled junior welterweight contest on Friday evening. The action took place in front of a sold out audience of about 1,200 at The Four Points by Sheraton Hotel in San Diego, California.

The former two time national amateur champion looked unstoppable as he used his tremendous power and superior size to overwhelm the usually durable Figueroa.

The first round was all Garcia as he pushed the action and landed some hard shots to the body. Garcia came out attacking in the second and landed heavily to the head of Figueroa as his opponent stumbled onto the ropes. After an uncontested flurry of heavy punches referee Jose Cobian decided that Figueroa had taken too much and waved off the fight.  The official time of the stoppage was announced by Joe Martinez as 52 seconds of the second round.

“I felt I had him hurt and I believe it was a good stoppage,” Garcia said afterwards.

Referee Cobian, a seasoned professional, stated that Figueroa was unresponsive to his commands and that was reason enough to stop the contest.

“I agree with the stoppage,” said Figueroa afterwards. “I don’t normally fight at this weight, I’m a natural lightweight and he was just too big. I can’t take away anything from him. He’s a quality fighter.”

Periban stuns Savage
Light heavyweights Marco Antonio Periban (10-0, 7 KOs) of Mexico City and Dion Savage (10-1, 6 KOs) of Flint, Michigan were supposed to go eight rounds but Periban had other plans for the Mayweather Promotions fighter. It took about 30 seconds for Periban to land a hard left and straight right to Savage’s jaw that dropped him in dramatic fashion.

Savage got up and took a count. He stepped forward but referee Tom Taylor decided that he wasn’t in condition to continue. The official stoppage was 32 seconds of the first round.

Martinez gets by Solorio
Hanzel Martinez (10-0, 8 KO’s) of Tijuana, Mexico took on Alejandro Solorio of Huntington Park, California (4-3) in a four round bantamweight clash. Martinez also happens to be the brother in law of Antonio Margarito, who was ringside to catch the action.

It was a good first round with Solorio coming out banging. Martinez remained cool and picked his shots but Solorio was beginning to land more often.

It was more all out action in the second as both men were landing one shot after the other. Toe to toe action as Martinez’s shots finally got through. Martinez was starting to slowly break down Solorio.

The last bell rang and both men decided to lay it all on the line. Martinez landed some hard shots and it seemed that he was taking the round but Solorio wasn’t giving in despite getting hit with some vicious combinations. Great fight which ended with a majority decision of 38-38, 39-37 (twice) for Martinez who remains unbeaten.

Matthews starches Olverson
Light heavyweight A.J. Matthews of Carlsbad scored a stunning knockout of Gene Olverson from Los Angeles in a match where both men were making their pro debut. The time of the stoppage was 39 seconds of round number 2. It was a powerful right hook that sent Olverson crashing against the ropes dramatically.

Other results:
Adrian Vargas from National City and Frankie Martinez (0-1) of Las Vegas mixed it up in a competitive four round super lightweight bout. Vargas had the clear advantage throughout but Martinez was extremely game and fought back even under tremendous fire. In the end, it was Vargas’ hard punching and fluid combinations that got him the unanimous decision of 40-36 from all three judges.

Super featherweight Pablo Armenta (4-0-1, 1 KO) of Chula Vista defeated Alenadron Cruz (3-11, 2 KO’s) of nearby El Cajon by scores of 40-36 from all three judges.

The exciting night of boxing was promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and Jorge Marron Productions. The main event was televised on Telefutura’s boxing series “Solo Boxeo.”

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