By: William Holmes
Eagles vs. Giants. Flyers vs. Rangers. Phillies vs. Mets. Sixers vs. Knicks.
New York and Philadelphia have long storied rivalries in all professional sports, and the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY played host to an intriguing main event between Brooklyn New York’s Zab Judah (42-7) and Philadelphia’s Danny Garcia (25-0), the current WBA and WBC Junior Welterweight Champion. There appeared to be legitimate heat between both camps in the weeks leading up to the fight, and Zab Judah exploded on Golden Boy Promotion’s for the lack of respect he believes he’s been shown.
Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin (28-0) and Fernando Guerrero (25-1) was the first televised bout of the night for Quillin’s WBO Middleweight title. By the time Guerrero started to walk into the ring the arena was three quarters of the way full. Peter Quillin walked out in a Boston Red Sox hat in honor of the Boston Marathon victims.
The fans in attendance were pro Quillin and he did not disappoint. Guerrero was a southpaw but was giving up an obvious reach and height advantage to Peter Quillin. Quillin started off slowly and was content on touching Guerrero with his jab and cross, but he picked up the action in the second round when he landed a stiff straight right hand that knocked Guerrero down hard. Guerrero was able to beat the count but was knocked down again from a combination by the ropes. He was somehow able to survive the second round and had his senses regained by the third.
Quillin continued his assault on Guerrero and had him wobbled in the fourth round. Guerrero’s best round was in the sixth when he landed several left hooks and straight lefts to the chin of Quillin. The end came in the seventh round, when Quillin landed a straight right hand that sent Guerrero stumbling backwards. The referee ruled it a knockdown but Guerrero tasted the canvas again from another combination by Peter Quillin.
Peter Quillin remained undefeated with a 7th round TKO at 1:30.
The main event in Brooklyn was between Danny Garcia and Zab Judah for the WBC and WBA Junior Welterweight title. By the time this fight started most of the seats that were previously empty were filled.
Despite the fact Brooklyn is Zab Judah’s home town, there was a smattering of boos in the arena when he walked out to the ring. Danny Garcia’s boos however was met with more cheers and boos than Judah.
Both fighters spent the first two rounds feeling each other out with Garcia focusing on the body of Judah and Judah was focusing on his jab. The crowd was taking turn chanting the names of both Danny and Judah, and were heavily involved in this fight.
The action began to pick up in round five when a straight right hand for Danny Garcia sent Zab Judah stumbling backwards and on shaky legs. Garcia went in for the kill but Judah was able to hold on.
Garcia came out for the attack in the sixth round and Judah had a cut underneath his left eye from the previous round. Garcia wobbled Judah again with a right hand but Judah was able to hold on and survive again.
Judah regrouped for the seventh round, but went down in the eighth after Garcia countered a straight left with a straight right of his own. The referee checked Judah hard but allowed him to continue fighting.
Judah however started to turn the tide in the ninth round when his straight left hand began to find it’s home. He got the crowd in Brooklyn on it’s feet and cheered him on. His left hand continued to land in the tenth and eleventh round and he even rocked Garcia in the 11th round with another straight left hand. Both fighters left it all in the ring and both were bloody, but Judah came on too late to steal the victory.
Danny Garcia retains his titles with scores of 115-112, 114-112, and 116-111.
After the televised portion of the card from Brooklyn Showtime broadcasted Amir Khan’s (27-3) fight against Julio Diaz (40-7-1) at the Motorpoint Arena in Sheffield, England. This bout was supposed to be a tune up bout for Khan and Golden Boy Promotions hoped to match him up with either the winner of Judah and Garcia or the winner of Matthysse and Peterson. Amir Khan however found himself in a much tougher fight than expected.
Julio Diaz is a former Lightweight world champion who scored a surprising split draw with the then undefeated Shawn Porter in December of last year. Khan is now working with famed trainer Virgil Hill and the new trainer’s effect on his pupil was evident in the early rounds, as Khan chose to box wisely and stayed away from his usual aggressive offensive attacks. Diaz however applied constant pressure and knocked Khan down with a two punch combination in the fourth round. Amir was able to go back to recover and go back to his game plan and stick to simply boxing. Diaz was able to trap Khan into engaging in a brawl in the eighth round and put his opponent on shaky legs, but the referee inexplicably warned Diaz for taunting and gave Khan some precious time to recover. Khan was on shaky legs again in the 11th round when a left hook by Diaz landed cleanly on Khan’s chin. Khan however was able to survive and win a razor thin and lucky decision. The judges scored it 114-113, 115-113, and 115-112 for Amir Khan.
Undercard Quick Results:
Danny Jacobs (25-1) defeated Keenan Collins (15-8-3)in the Middleweight by 4th round TKO at 2:06.
Luis Collazo (33-5) defeated Miguel Callist (27-9-1) in the welterweight division by TKO at 1:33 of the fifth round.
Eddie Gomez (14-0) defeated Luis Hernandez (21-5) in the junior middleweight division by scores of 80-70, 80-70, and 79-71.
Boyd Melson (10-1-1) defeated Edgar Perez (5-4) in the super middleweight division with scores of 60-53, 60-53, 59-54
D’Mitrius Ballard (2-0) defeated Marcus Clay (2-6) in the super middleweight division by second round KO at 2:21
Miguel Cartagena (6-0) defeated Angel Carvaljal (2-1) in the bantamweight division by scores of 40-36 on all three cards.
Zachary Ochoa (4-0) defeated Calvin Smith (2-3)in the junior welterweight division by scores of 40-36 on all three cards.
Marcus Browne (4-0) defeated Tanel Goyco (4-6-1) in the light heavyweight division by second round KO at 0:54.