Ryan Garcia is back.
"KingRy" answered questions about his future in the sport following his knockout loss to Gervonta Davis earlier this year with an eighth-round knockout against Oscar Duarte at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The official time was 2:51.
With a new trainer and weight class, Garcia proved that he is still improving and far from damaged goods in a performance that saw him box well and use his fast hands to finish his opponent.
There are still defensive flaws in Garcia's game and they surfaced as he routinely turned his back to Duarte, who focused on applying pressure to eventually break down "KingRy." But Garcia showcased a sharp jab, a blistering uppercut and utilized movement at the behest of his new trainer to prevent Duarte from planting his feet and unloading power shots.
Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) opened the fight by flashing a jab and circling away from Duarte, who was content on doing whatever he could to bully his way inside. The first several rounds saw Garcia comfortably ahead. By round four, Duarte had managed to find his way inside and banged away at Garcia's body, head, arms and whatever he could find.
Duarte (26-2-1) had momentum on his side in the middle rounds but Garcia began moving his feet in round seven, to the dismay of the crowd. The movement kept Duarte off balance and eventually opened him up to the finishing sequence at the end of the eighth round.
Growing impatient, Duarte charged in and was clipped by Garcia's blistering left hook. The shot rattled Duarte and Garcia sensed that his opponent was damaged. With Duarte reeling, Garcia went to work and blasted his opponent with a combination that put Duarte down to a knee. With the referee administering the count, Duarte appeared disorientated and he rose too late, giving Garcia the knockout victory.
The win gets Garcia back to his winning ways and the division has been put on notice by one of boxing's biggest stars.
Here are the full card results.
Ryan Garcia vs. Oscar Duarte live updates, results, highlights
Round Eight: Duarte continues to apply pressure as Garcia begins moving a lot more than he has. The crowd wants more action. Duarte crowding Garcia but allowing him to escape. Duarte lands a punch behind the head. Left hand from Garcia lands and Duarte is in trouble! Big combination and Duarte goes down! He can't beat the count and it's over!
SN Unofficial Scorecard: ---
Round Seven: Duarte still chasing Garcia but is having a hard time getting inside. A pair of right hands get through for Garcia. Garcia cracks Duarte coming inside. Garcia offers a lot of movement that is keeping Duarte from setting his feet to throw. Counter left from Garcia. Not a busy round for either fighter.
SN Unofficial Scorecard: 10-9 Garcia (69-64 Garcia)
Round Six: Duarte has finally managed to get in close with ease but gets smacked with a left uppercut and a right hand. Right hook from Garcia lands as Duarte draws close. Hard left hand from Duarte on the inside. Right hand over the top from Duarte. Garcia continues to jab and lands a right hand when Duarte tries to rumble inside.
SN Unofficial Scorecard: 10-9 Garcia (59-55 Garcia)
Round Five: Two hard right hands from Garcia as Duarte continues to apply pressure. Duarte unloads and is trying to land anything everywhere. Hard uppercut from Garcia and a left hand follows. Duarte banging away when he gets close. Not landing clean. Big combination from Garcia. Hard left hand from Duarte. Garcia turns away as Duarte gets close. Low blow from Garcia and he gets a warning. Garcia lands a left hand and moves away. Close round.
SN Unofficial Scorecard: 10-9 Garcia (49-46 Garcia)
Round Four: Duarte with some body work and roughs him up in the corner. The referee warns Duarte again. The referee is getting a little too involved. Duarte getting closer but not throwing enough and Garcia picks him off with a combination. Low blow from Duarte. Duarte with more pressure and it seems to be working. Garcia lands a pair of lefts to close the round but this may be the first round Duarte has won.
SN Unofficial Scorecard: 10-9 Duarte (39-37 Garcia)
Round Three: Right hand from Duarte to open the round. Duarte with a lot of pressure. Hard right hand from Garcia and he follows with a left hook. Duarte is taking the punches well but he can't keep getting hit clean. Another hard right hand from Garcia lands clean. Garcia opening up more and landing with higher frequency. Straight right hand from Garcia. Duarte gets warned for punching the back and behind the head.
SN Unofficial Scorecard: 10-9 Garcia (30-27 Garcia)
Round Two: Garcia opens with the jab and lands a right hook. Duarte trying to corner Garcia. Left hook from Duarte lands flush. Garcia takes it well. Left hook from Garcia lands off the ropes. Duarte with a right hand over the top. Garcia pushing forward now. Right hand lands clean for Garcia.
SN Unofficial Scorecard: 10-9 Garcia (20-18 Garcia)
Round One: Garcia takes the center of the ring and starts probing with the jab. Hard right to the body from Garcia. Duarte barely misses a left hook. Garcia circles off and jabs. Hard left uppercut by Garcia. Duarte lunges and misses with a body shot. Garcia's movement is keeping Duarte off balance. Another uppercut from Garcia. Good opening round.
SN Unofficial Scorecard: 10-9 Garcia
10:08 p.m. ET: The main event is up next as Ryan Garcia is preparing to head to the ring with Hip Hop artist Lupe Fiasco by his side for his comeback fight against Oscar Duarte. We're going to round-by-round coverage from here on out.
9:46 p.m. ET: Good lord. Schofield throttled Lopez with four knockdowns in the first round to get the TKO victory. Behind a lightning-fast jab, Schofield wrecked a seasoned veteran in an eyebrow-raising fashion. Schofield said he was ready for the biggest and best lightweights in the world and it's going to be hard to deny him if he keeps performing like this.
9:35 p.m. ET: Up next is undefeated lightweight Floyd Schofield facing Ricardo Lopez Torres. It's the co-main event.
9:14 p.m. ET: Shane Mosley Jr. is inching closer to a world title opportunity after closing the show by forcing Joshua Conley to quit on the stool at the end of round six. Mosley looked strong and dominant. But is he truly ready for the next step in his career?
8:46 p.m. ET: Up next is Shane Mosley Jr. taking on Joshua Conley in middleweight action. Conley came in overweight and has been inactive for over a year.
8:27 p.m. ET: As expected, Darius Fulghum took care of business and finished Pachino Hill with a 2nd round TKO. That's Fulghum's ninth career win and all of them have come inside the distance. Bernard Hopkins has spoken highly of Fulghum and there's a lot of potential for the young fighter.
8:15 p.m. ET: Hello everyone, and welcome to The Sporting News' live coverage of Garcia vs. Duarte. We're kicking off the main card with the undefeated knockout artist Darius Fulghum taking on Pachino Hill.
Ryan Garcia vs. Oscar Duarte results
- Ryan Garcia def. Oscar Duarte via 8th round KO (2:51)
- Shane Mosley Jr. def. Joshua Conley via 6th round TKO (3:00)
- Floyd Schofield def. Ricardo Lopez via 1st round TKO (1:51)
- Darius Fulghum def. Pachino Hill via 2nd round TKO (:56)