Garcia-Peterson: Decision “Swift”-Ly Caused “Havoc”

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Danny Garcia vs Lamont PetersonBoxing is one of the oldest sports in the history of mankind and has come a long way since the early Olympics, possibly earlier. People have traveled from far away lands to find out who’s the best fighter in the world. At times are left disappointed not at a win or loss for their fighter but more by the corruption and favoritism that surrounds the sport. As a fan of the sport, we must realize that boxing and controversy go hand in hand like love and marriage.

On April 11th boxing fans were treated to quite the fight when unified junior welterweight champion Danny “Swift” Garcia took on Lamont “Havoc” Peterson at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, New York, but the controversy started long before the fight. The fight between Garcia and Peterson was held at a higher catchweight than the 140 pounds weight limit which meant no titles would be on the line and the night would end with no titles switching hands.

Maybe that wasn’t so controversial and just something I felt like bitching about but what would happen after the fight would leave a sour taste in many boxing fans mouths.

In the opening rounds, Danny Garcia tried to apply pressure to Lamont Peterson. Garcia would connect on some occasions, but Peterson’s lateral movement, and smart footwork would often cause Garcia to miss and try and chase Peterson down. Garcia was aggressive, but it was not effective. Around the midway mark of the fight, Peterson began to switch from his earlier game plan and land constant power shots while evading many of Garcia’s shots and marking up his face in the process. By the last round it was clear that Peterson had himself in place for a victory over Garcia but the judges did not see it that way with two judges favoring Garcia and one judge having the fight a draw.

You can argue that the fight was close depending on what you’re looking for to happen in a fight, but there was no point in the fight where Garcia seemed to be in control offensively or defensively. He had problems with Peterson’s movement which had shown up previously when he fought and was given a gift decision over Mauricio Herrera and history repeated itself which left many fans and fighters left with the same feeling on who the true winner was.

Garcia is a good fighter. He had proven himself a champion, but the gifts he has received has not helped him as a fighter and surely has to be damaging to his reputation. We know the house favorite will more than likely become the victor of the night, but a robbery is a robbery. The questions that will surround Garcia now will be what he does next and how much longer will he be protected?