Erik Morales vs. Danny Garcia (1st meeting)
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| Total Punches | Morales | Garcia |
|---|---|---|
| Landed | 164 | 238 |
| Thrown | 547 | 779 |
| Pct. | 30% | 31% |
| Jabs | Morales | Garcia |
| Landed | 93 | 68 |
| Thrown | 307 | 334 |
| Pct. | 30% | 20% |
| Power Punches | Morales | Garcia |
| Landed | 71 | 170 |
| Thrown | 240 | 445 |
| Pct. | 30% | 38% |
Danny Garcia 140 lbs beat Erik Morales 142 lbs by UD in round 12 of 12
- Date: 2012-03-24
- Location: Reliant Arena, Houston, Texas, USA
- Referee: Laurence Cole
- Judge: Samuel Conde Lopez 118-109
- Judge: Mark Green 116-112
- Judge: Oren Shellenberger 117-110
- World Boxing Council Light Welterweight Title (vacant and only at stake for Garcia)
- Promoter: Golden Boy Promotions
- Ring Announcer: Michael Buffer
- Aired On: HBO World Championship Boxing (Main Event)
Notes
- Erik Morales 52-7 (36 KOs) vs. Danny Garcia 22-0 (14 KOs)
- Erik Morales entered as the # 5 junior welterweight in the world according to The Ring Magazine. Garcia was ranked # 7 by the same publication.
- Morales, a 2.8/1 betting underdog [1], came in two pounds over the contracted limit and was subsequently stripped by the WBC of his title. Thus, the title was only at stake for Garcia. He too was fined $50,000 ($25,000 per pound) which was given to Garcia.
- Morales earned a $1 million purse, while Garcia was due to make $175,000. This increased to $225,000 following the fines levied against Morales. [2]
Pre-Fight Quotes
- "For me, it's still a championship fight but I believe what he did is a disrespect to boxing and to boxing fans. The first fight every boxer has is to make weight and he didn't do it and I did. Now all I have to do is go out there and beat him up." - Danny Garcia concerning Morales coming in overweight [3]
- "I'm not too worried about the belt. The important thing is the fight. I already won the fourth belt so it doesn't matter to me. I was in position to save the fight or the belt but it's more important to save the fight. If I tried to make the weight by taking off those two pounds it would have really affected me in the fight. It wasn't worth the sacrifice at this point for the last couple of pounds. It would hurt me. No point." Erik Morales
Bout Summary
Garcia began bleeding heavily from a likely broken nose in Round 10. A left hook at 1:30 of Round 11 sent Morales down.
Post-Fight Quotes
- “I don’t know what I want to do next. I have to sit down with my family and look at my health and the desire to keep fighting. One of the reasons I fought Garcia was that I was sure that I still have what it takes to beat some of the best competition out there. After tonight I need to take a step back and really look at what I want to do next. I would like to go out on my own terms, perhaps a fight in Tijuana, Mexico. He did a good job early on, but this is a 12 round fight. I knew that around the sixth or seventh round, my work rate would increase and after the eighth or ninth, I would increase it even more. It’s good to have a good first or second round, but what’s important here is to know how to finish, not just how to start.” - Erik Morales.
- “This was a difficult fight, as are all fights at this level. There are no easy fights in boxing. He was elusive and had a good defense. I give it to Morales that he busted me up pretty good, no disrespect to Erik, but you had your time, it’s my time now to shine and that is what I was looking to do. I just fought some hard twelve rounds with a legend and I plan to be around here for a long time. I feel great, I’m still taking it all in, I’m glad that all the hard work has paid off for me and I plan on doing what it takes to stay as a champion. At times I tried to finish him off, but I didn’t want to get greedy and walk into anything. You have to remember that he has been in the ring with some of the best fighters in the world and has faced hall of fame fighters.” - Danny Garcia.
- “Garcia did well against a legend fighter tonight. I was telling him that he has to put his combinations together and not just sit on certain punches. There is no reason that the new WBC super lightweight champion shouldn’t get better after tonight. He did show some flaws and I told him that after the fight and that he’s a good kid and besides the conditioning he has to get back in the gym and get better with his combinations and adjusting in the fight. Those are the type of fights though that makes a fighter mature.” - promoter Oscar De La Hoya. [4]