Erislandy Lara defends the WBA middleweight title by defeating Danny Garcia in nine

About 120 seconds into the WBA middleweight title fight between Erislandy Lara and Danny Garcia, a theme began to emerge. Or rather, it was heard. A chorus of boos rained down on the fighters as the fight devolved into a throaty display of disapproval that didn't stop for the next eight rounds.

Lara successfully defended his WBA middleweight title (up to 157 pounds) for the third time by knocking down and stopping Garcia for the first time in his career in the ninth round of the Canelo Alvarez-Edgar Berlanga PBC on Prime pay-per-view fight in front of 20,312 sold-out spectators at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

“The punches I landed hurt him,” Lara said. “The punch that ended the fight was a hard punch. I felt like I boxed beautifully. It was a work of art, like a Picasso. I destroyed everything Danny had. He's a great fighter and a Hall of Famer, just like me.”

“I used lateral movements with a long jab to land my big punches, just like you learn in the Cuban boxing school. I'm ready for the next challenge. I'm here to stay. I still have a lot of boxing left in me.”

CompuBox stats showed that Garcia landed just 33 punches while Lara landed just 63. According to CompuBox, Lara (31-3-3, 19 knockouts) landed more jabs than power punches (37/26), but his final power punch knocked Garcia down at the end of the ninth round.

This was Lara’s fourth consecutive win by stoppage.

Of the 18 rounds fought by the 36-year-old former two-division title holder Garcia and the 41-year-old left-hander Lara, who lives in Cuba, they landed double-digit punches in only four rounds.

Garcia (37-4, 21 KOs) had just completed a 26-month layoff, the longest break of his career.

That was seen.

“I'm fine,” Garcia said. “I had a two-year break and wanted to play well, but it wasn't my night. No excuses. I didn't think the break would affect me like that, but there are no excuses. I couldn't find my rhythm. He had a strong jab and controlled the distance well.”

“At the end of the day, my dad (Angel) will always do what's best for me. I tried to conquer a third division and failed. I've been at the top of the game for a long time, I take it like a true champion.”

And then Garcia apologized to his fans and the audience at T-Mobile Arena.

This was going to be a tough test for Lara, the ring's No. 4 middleweight, who agreed to face Garcia at the 157-pound catchweight, which was apparently harder for Lara to achieve than Garcia.

It didn't look like it.

The two finished the first round to boos, although it was obvious that Lara was going to use his 7-inch reach advantage (75½ inches to Garcia's 68½ inches), jabbing at Garcia's stomach and trying to lure Garcia into a punch so he could counter.

Towards the end of the second round, Lara began to put more pressure on Garcia, again accompanied by boos. In the background, referee Thomas Taylor could be heard telling the fighters: “Watch your feet, boys, watch your feet.”

The few punches Lara landed seemed to turn Garcia's face red, but Garcia was unable to do anything. He threw eight punches but didn't land a single one in the second round.

With 1:16 left in the third round, Lara finally landed the first big punch of the fight. In the final minute, for the third round in a row, fans showed their displeasure with the tactics of each fighter. Towards the end of the third round, Thomas told ringside officials that Garcia had been accidentally headbutted.

Nothing happened in the fourth round either. The fight became a sedative for the mass audience. When Garcia returned to his corner, Angel Garcia, Danny's father and trainer, kept asking Danny: “Are you OK, are you OK?”

Midway through the fifth, Garcia attempted a quick combination, albeit reluctantly. Garcia hesitated, unsure of what to do. Lara poked and poked, and when Garcia continued to do nothing, Lara did some more.

After five innings, it was clear that Lara would have a shutout.

After the sixth round, Angel suspected something was wrong and repeatedly asked Danny, “Are you OK, are you OK?” Sensing that the fight was getting more and more out of control, Danny's corner begged their fighter to shove Lara and force him to fight.

Garcia, meanwhile, did nothing but stand there, seemingly resigned to the fact that this might be his last fight, as all the fighting spirit of his illustrious career seemed to be gone.

Lara was content to stay out there and strike, keeping a safe distance and letting the crowd do anything but pay attention to the fight, hoping the main event would start as soon as possible – if they were still awake.

In the final seconds of the ninth round, Lara himself put the finishing touches to the fight. He caught Garcia with a kind of left punch to the face that knocked him down for the first time in his career – and possibly the last time.

When Garcia returned to his corner, Angel saw enough. He made a gesture to his throat, that was it.

When Angel was asked what's next for Danny, he said, “That's up to Danny. Whatever he wants to do, I'm OK with it.”

With stable finances, a new advertising agency, and several businesses and real estate holdings, retirement may not be a bad option for the future Hall of Famer from Philadelphia.