KEITH THURMAN defeated Danny Garcia on Saturday (March 4) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn to unify the WBC and WBA welterweight titles.
Thurman, a dangerous puncher and the bigger man of the two, took charge in the first half of the fight. In the seventh round Garcia fired off a brace of hooks. He opened up with those punches but Thurman replied with a massive right cross.
Keith maintained the quality of his work, looking sharp and dangerous. They traded big shots at the end of the ninth round, a salvo from Thurman struck Danny but Garcia hit back with a single hard right.
In the 10th round Thurman speared his right in but on the bell a left hook to the body folded Keith over for a moment. He saw out the last rounds, moving off nimbly from side to side as Garcia tried to close him down. He gave those sessions away but Garcia could not pin him down or change the course of the contest.
The decision was split, one judge saw it 115-113 to Garcia but the other two judges rectified that, scoring 116-112 and 115-113 for Thurman.
“I came up short tonight. I gave it my all,” Garcia said. “I thought I was the aggressor and I won the fight but it is what is.
“I thought I pushed the fight like a true champion.”
“I thought I outboxed him,” Thurman said. “I thought it was a clear victory. But Danny, he came to fight.”
