Welterweight Roberto Garcia recovered from a first round knock down to the canvas on route to an right round won over James Stevenson in a primetime bout on SpikeTV Friday night in Chicago.
Stevenson dominated early on, but the veteran Garcia persevered and used quantity of his punches over quality to draw a unanimous decision.
Garcia won on scores of 77-74, 78-73, and 78-73.
Garcia (37-3, 23 KO) got off to a bad start after Stevenson dropped him just a minute into the fight with a right uppercut. Stevenson landed a couple more nice left uppercuts in the early two rounds, but that would be all that seemed to bother Garcia. Stevenson’s (22-2,15 KO) stamina began to catch up to him as he was visibly fatigued in the later rounds.
The middle rounds saw Stevenson run around the ring, trying to make space for himself and catch his breath. Garcia was relentless, the style of boxing he has come to be known for, as he chased down his opponent and continued to bump his score.
Garcia’s work ethic paid off for him in the end as Stevenson failed to build on his great start.
It wasn’t the most entertaining fight, however, as neither fighter landed any big blows, just the ordinary punches that racked up the score.
Garcia will be happy with the result, as the 35-year-old continues to remain in the mix in the welterweight division.