Garcia destroys Fonseca
Rising star Ryan Garcia (20-0, 17 KOs) remained unbeaten on Friday night, after knocking out Francisco Fonseca (25-3-2, 19 KOs) in only 80 seconds at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
The fight was the main event of Golden Boy Promotions’ fight card that streamed live on DAZN.
“I was hoping that it would last a little bit longer,” said Garcia. “When I saw Fonseca move to the side, it gave me the opportunity to hit him with that left hook. I saw the left hook. It was there. I just needed to let him commit to a shot, so I let him get comfortable, and I caught him between the shot. It’s a perfect left hook.”
As Fonseca came forward with a sweeping right hand, Garcia stepped back and connected with a short, and quick left hook that sent Fonseca crashing down and out.
In the co-featured bout, former world champ Jorge Linares (47-5, 29 KOs) scored an impressive stoppage over the rugged Carlos Morales (19-5-4, 8 KOs) in the fourth round.
Linares, who suffered a cut in the opening stanza from an accidental headbutt, floored Morales with a right hand to the jaw after landing a jab to the body. Morales beat the count but in the fourth round, ate the same one-two combination to the body and jaw, that sent him down again. This time he would stagger to his feet before the referee waved it off.
“I surprised myself, but I can demonstrate even more that,” said Linares. “I wanted to see if I could capture a world title in a fourth weight class. He caught me, I was off-balance, but now I’m back at 135 pounds. The best thing I could have done is go back home to Japan with Teiken Promotions and Mr. Honda. Now I’m ready to shore more. I’m at the best moment in my career right now.”
Linares could face Garcia next if all goes as planned for Golden Boy Promotions, who aim to stage the fight at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles this summer.