In a thrilling night of boxing before an excitable crowd of more than 13,000 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, Danny “Swift” Garcia won a hard-fought unanimous decision over veteran Brooklynite Zab Judah to retain his WBA Super, WBC and Ring Magazine 140-pound titles. In the co-feature, Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin outworked Fernando Guerrero to retain his WBO Middleweight World Championship via a the seventh round technical knockout.
Right here, you’ll find a huge collection of dozens of fight night photos, recap videos, post-fight quotes and more from the action on Saturday night.
Garcia and Judah entered the arena with a trail of bad blood stemming from animosity throughout the event promotion. While both fighters started slow in a feeling-out process, Garcia began to gain momentum, visibly hurting Judah for the first time in the fifth. In the eighth round Garcia landed a crisp straight right hand that sent Judah to the canvas. The punch seemed to awaken something within the crafty Judah who turned the fight around in the tenth round.
A frantic pace ensued through the championship rounds with both men bloody, battered and slugging their way right to the closing bell, but it was too little too late for Judah. Garcia’s powerful right hand and his mental fortitude were the differences in the fight.
When the final bell rang, the two combatants embraced each other putting an end to their bitter pre-fight feud. Garcia was announced the victor and still champion in the third defense of his unified world titles by scores of 115-112, 114-112, 116-111.
After the fight Garcia (26-0, 16 KO’s) praised Judah, saying, “It was a hell of a fight. I had to beat the Brooklyn guy in his hometown. I knew he had a lot of pride behind him and he was never going to give up. He is a crafty veteran with power. He hit me with a good shot. He hit me in the eleventh with a left hand that spun me around. It shook me up a little bit.”
He continued “I am a true champion and I had to fight through a storm tonight to prove that. Judah is the craftiest and strongest guy that I have fought so far. I knew he had a lot of power with the left, but I was able to stand my ground and counter it. My game plan was to try to use the jab, but he was stepping around. He was crafty and he took my jab away so I had to do what I had to do.”
Referring to the bad blood between the two fighters, Garcia said, “It’s gone. It’s respect. As you can see, it’s a lot of bad blood. I’ve got cuts. He has cuts. We came here and gave the people of Brooklyn a nice show.”
Speaking on his performance, Judah (42-8, 29 KO’s) said, “It’s boxing and things happen. You win some, you lose some. Danny is a young, tough fighter. I was on my A-game tonight. I worked hard. I had a great training camp and we gave it our best shot.”
When asked if this would be his last fight Judah emphatically responded, “You’re going to see me fight again. Why would I quit?”
In the first defense of his world title, Quillin (29-0, 21 KO’s), who still remains undefeated, delighted the crowd in Brooklyn with a devastating performance over Guerrero. Dominant from the first round, Quillin sent Guerrero to the canvas four times throughout the course of the fight, with the fourth knockdown prompting the referee to call the fight at the 1:30 mark of the seventh round.
After the win, Quillin reflected on his preparation and the fight itself saying, “It’s the journey that is the most important. I have to thank Fernando for coming up, but he couldn’t do it. I had to do it for New York City.
“There is no concern when you are trying to stick to the gameplan. I believed in what my corner was telling me. I value their opinion and Fernando came. This wasn’t a fight that was made because we thought that I could beat Fernando Guerrero. He came and had the opportunity. I’m very thankful.
“I’m inspired by my team. It’s always working to try to do your best. I was working hard to do my best. I put myself through a hard training camp to try to come to this fight and try to look like superman. The sky is the limit.”
Peter Quillin dedicated his fight to the people and the city of Boston.
