Photo credit - Tom Hogan
At the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, Ryan "KingRy" Garcia's (21-0, 18 KO's) ring walk was on a throne with a gold Roman wreath crown on his head to his adoring crowd of fans, something boxing hasn't seen since the flamboyant Prince Naseem Hamed did back in the the late 90's.
Naseem Hamed claimed himself to be a prince, and now, Garcia is claiming to be a king in the lightweight division, which includes several interim champions, and the real king, Teofimo Lopez (16-0, 12 KO's), the current WBO, IBF, WBA, WBC "Franchise," and Ring champion.
In front of a sellout crowd in Dallas, Texas, Garcia and Campbell both came out in the first round with stiff punches, with the southpaw Campbell pawing his right hand very high in the air, loading up his left hand. But it was Garcia's hands which were much faster and he began by landing a lightning straight right hand that pushed the Brit back momentarily.
The southpaw Campbell then came back with a left hook to the body of Garcia and then a glancing right to the head of KingRy. Both fighters were being careful, but Garcia was the one forcing the action until the bell sounded.
There already was electricity in the arena and then lightning struck when Campbell landed a huge left hook on Garcia's jaw, which turned his head, and he went crashing to the canvas. A punch that most fighters would have never recovered from, Garcia got up quickly after the ten count by referee Laurence Cole, and he now was the one forcing the action to the surprise of Campbell. A move that Campbell should have not let happen, and one he would later regret.
In the third round, Garcia quickly got his respect back as he went to the body of Campbell with his left hook and basically walked the Brit down to win the third round.
At the beginning of the fourth round, Garcia continued to be the aggressor and he quickly landed a hard straight right hand to the head of Campbell that pushed him backward momentarily. Campbell then came back with a short glancing left hook to the face of Garcia that momentarily force his head back. Garcia continued forcing the action until the end of the round and it was clear that he had recovered from the second round flash knockdown.
In the fifth round, Garcia caught Cambell with a straight right hand which Campbell took well. Then at the last few seconds of this round, Garcia landed a hard left hook to the head of Campbell that made him turn his back and face the ropes as the bell sounded. Campbell was hurt, and if the bell had not sounded, Garcia would probably have finished him. Campbell was literally saved by the bell.
At the beginning of the sixth round Garcia went after Campbell with a flurry of punches that forced Campbell against the ropes as he backed up blocking what he could to recover from the previous round.
Towards the end of the round, Garcia landed a nice check hook, but to Campbell's credit he was able to land a short straight right hand to the jaw on Garcia and he continued to use his jab to keep out of harms way from the oncoming Garcia.
And like a true warrior, at about the first minute of the seventh round, Garcia landed a wicked left hook to the body that sent Campbell to one knee and then eventually to both knees as he cringed in pain and eventually counted out by referee Laurence Cole and the fight was over!
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