Team Puerto Rico welterweight Kenny “Battlestar” Galarza (15-1, 14 KOs) overcame the tough challenge of fellow Puerto Rican Irving Garcia (17-6-3, 8 KOs) by winning a 10-round split decision last night at Boricua Invasion I at Roseland Ballroom in NYC.
Fighting in the main event, Galarza’s hard punching, especially early, was the difference in a good action fight that went back and forth. Garcia came on strong in the later rounds, but time ran out on his comeback. The scores were 96-94, 97-94 Galarza and 96-94 Garcia.
“It was a tough fight,” admitted Galarza post-fight. “Garcia is a veteran with a lot of experience and I give him a lot of credit. He fought well.”
“Kenny showed a lot of toughness in the face of adversity tonight,” said Galarza’s co-promoter, Gary Shaw of Gary Shaw Productions. “I think Garcia had a number of veteran tricks up his sleeve tonight and Kenny stayed tough, landed the harder punches and gutted it out. I was happy with his performance against a very difficult opponent.”
Galarza had trained for the bout with fellow Team Puerto Rico welterweight Thomas Dulorme. “I’m happy with the decision because I really worked hard for it and I know I earned it.”
