America has a new boxing star. Forget about Gervonte Davis and wife-beating antics. The baby-faced assassin Ryan Garcia got the biggest win of his career so far with a vicious knockout win over Francisco Fonseca. It was a truly phenomenal performance.
Garcia hails from California and currently resides in Los Angeles. The 21-year-old holds the WBC Silver Lightweight title. In short, it’s a fake belt but it does show that he’s going to be one to watch in the coming year. With an unbeaten record of 17 knockouts in 20 wins, he’s going places.
Represented by Golden Boy Promotions, Garcia is an internet darling. With his boyish good looks and brutal power, he’s on the fast track to superstardom. Fight commentator Sergio Mora said that ‘a new star is born.’ That’s not an exaggeration.
Violent
The fight went down in the Honda Center, Anaheim, California. It was an opportunity for Garcia to prove himself against a wily operator in Fonseca. The Nicaraguan has challenged twice for the IBF lightweight title. Meanwhile, his current record stands at 25 wins, three losses, and two draws. Garcia was the favorite but nobody expected a finish like this.
However, he wasn’t prepared for Garcia’s blistering hand-speed. His Instagram videos show you just how quick he is and he applied it to real life. First of all, he let fly with a combo. Then he smashed Fonseca in the jaw with an outrageous left hook. We’ve no idea where he got that power from but it was devastating. To sum up, Fonseca was sent to the shadow realm.
YES. @KINGRYANG JUST DID THAT. pic.twitter.com/yM6av30sqA
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) February 15, 2020
Tribute
After the impressive victory, Garcia paid tribute to a boxing legend in Sugar Ray Leonard. He said that he drew inspiration from the former world champion. There’s no doubt that it was a brilliantly timed and technically perfect finish. He said:
“It was a good performance. It did not last much long. But I watched the video of Sugar Ray Robinson before coming into this fight. He did a little feint and he caught him with the perfect left hook.
So when I seen Fonseca move that way I just faked him a little bit and caught him clean with that left hook. I was planning for it to go longer, I am not gonna lie, but respect to Fonseca, man. They’re great people. Thank you for the opportunity.”
Garcia. Haney. 🍿🍿🍿 pic.twitter.com/ENyyBaztBa
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) February 15, 2020
Challenge
It was a perfect step-off KO. As soon as Fonseca hit the ground, Garcia knew it was over. He stepped away making a slit-the-throat gesture with his finger. Then fellow lightweight Devin Haney confronted him. The pair have a history from their amateur days.
Garcia has made it clear that he wants a clash with Gervonta Davis next. But Haney wouldn’t be a bad match-up. Only time will tell just how high the US fighter’s ceiling is. But right now he’s got a whole load of momentum building behind him. All he needs to do is keep knocking people out. Of course, it’s not that easy or everybody would do it.
