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Nick Parkinson
Lightweight Sensation Ryan Garcia faces Luke Campbell for the vacant WBC lightweight interim title in the main event of a DAZN card at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on Saturday.
Garcia (20-0, 17 KOs) has won four of his last five bouts, including an impressive first-round KO against Francisco Fonseca on February 14th. Campbell (20-3, 16 KOs) has not struggled since losing a unanimous decision that challenged Vasiliy Lomachenko for the lightweight championship in August 2019.
In the main event, Rene Alvarado defends his WBA “regular” junior lightweight title against Roger Gutierrez in a 12-round battle.
Alvarado (32-8, 21 KOs) has won eight straight fights, including six per stoppage, since losing the decision to Yuriorkis Gamboa nearly four years ago. Gutiérrez (24-3-1, 20 KOs) suffered consecutive defeats against Oscar Duarte and Hector Tanajara in 2018, but has won five consecutive fights, four per stoppage.
In the letter, Rene’s twin brother Felix Alvarado (35-2, 30 KOs) defends his IBF junior flyweight world title against DeeJay Kriel (16-1-1, 8 KOS) in a fight 12 rounds.
Stay here for live card results and analysis.
Ryan Garcia has his hands wrapped around coach Eddy Reynoso ahead of his title fight against Luke Campbell at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on Saturday. (Photo by Ed Keenan / Folden Boy Promotions)
Ongoing fight: Rene Alvarado vs. Roger Gutierrez, 12 rounds, for Alba’s “regular” junior lightweight WBA title
Results:
F. Alvarado beats Kriel in the TKO victory
Felix Alvarado shone in his U.S. debut, scoring two tackles in a stoppage 10-round victory over DeeJay Kriel to defend his IBF lightweight world title.
After not doing any boxing in 2020, Alvardo, Rene’s twin brother, also in action with the same card, proved that his power marks him as one of the best in the world with 108 pounds in his second world defense.
Alvarado (36-2, 31 KOs), 31, from Nicaragua, served as a warning with a quick start and then Kriel (15-2-1, 8 KOs), 25, with a hook left who landed on the chin the second round. Kriel survived admirably a minute and a half torrid until the end of the second round, grabbing a large right hand up to her chin during the process.
Alvarado landed a series of shots in the fourth round and again placed the South African on the canvas with a left hook. But Kriel, a former straw-weight title and quality operator, fired back with quick hands.
Kriel narrowed the points margin in the center rounds, but almost overflowed at the end of round 9 as Alvarado increased the pressure. Alvarado kept his attack in the 10th round and it was enough to force a stop after 1 minute and 39 seconds as he landed a series of unanswered punches.
Curiel beats Agaton in TKO’s victory
Raul Curiel rushed out the door and never gave up, beating Ramses Agaton for four more minutes on his way to the unilateral victory in the second round of the TKO.
Curiel (9-0, 7 KOs) focused on the body at first, and a left hook to the liver dropped Agaton, who fell to his knee frustrated. The fight seemed to be on the verge of a stoppage at the end of the first round after a wave of punches against the ropes, but Agaton (22-13-3, 12 KOs) lasted long enough to hear the bell in the end of the first round.
The aggression did not stop with the start of the second round, although a perpetual attack of hooks on the right and top positions on the left landed constantly. Agaton, with his right eye closed, could not protect himself and his corner threw in the towel at 1:16.
According to CompuBox, Curiel outscored Agaton 43-10, despite throwing virtually the same number of hits (108 for Curiel, 107 for Agaton).
Younger Garcia remains undefeated with the victory by majority decision
Lightweight Sean Garcia, Ryan Garcia’s younger brother, remained undefeated with a majority win by decision over René Márquez by 38-38, 39-37 and 39-37.
Garcia (5-0, 2 KOs) had a harder time than expected against Márquez (5-5, 2 KOs). Márquez kept moving forward, landing body shots and throwing his right hand every time he had Garcia close. Garcia, 20, was able to get more punches in round 3, but ended the tired fight, a product of Márquez’s body attack.
According to CompuBox, Garcia landed 48 of 161 punches, while Márquez, 31, was able to land only 30 of 185. Garcia also connected 43 of his power shots, while Márquez landed only 22.