Moments ago, unified jr. welterweight champion Danny Garcia successfully defended his titles, scoring a majority decision against game challenger Mauricio Herrera at the Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. Herrera came out with an excellent game plan, keeping Garcia at bay by mixing up his jab and utilizing slick boxing skills to slip and block a lot of the return fire. Though Garcia would land some decent power punches in the early rounds, they were few and far between, allowing Herrera to fight his fight while landing his own punches in return.
By the middle rounds, it was Herrera backing Garcia up and looking more and more confident in the process. Garcia, however, found good opportunities to counter, landing hard left hooks to the body. Still, it was Herrera who continued to press forward, backing Garcia up with a consistent jab and an overhand right. Garcia still tried to find a home for his counter left hook, but Herrera did a good job of preventing him from getting into a rhythm. In the 9th round, a jab from Herrera busted open the nose of Garcia. That seemed to wake the champion up as Garcia started letting his hands go and trading leather with Herrera.
Both fighters turned it up in the championship rounds. While Garcia landed some good shots in the 11th round, Herrera really let his hands go in the 12th. Coming down the stretch, it was Garcia initiating the clinches while Herrera continued to walk him down and land his right hand. In the end, the judges scored the bout 114-114, 116-112, and 116-112 for Danny Garcia.
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