Ryan Garcia last night shook the world of boxing, his KO victory over Francisco Fonseca leading fans to claim he is ‘single-handedly saving’ the sport.
The 21-year-old American boxer claimed his 20th consecutive professional victory on Friday, February 14, knocking his opponent out with a left hook to the face in the very first round.
The lightweight fight at the Honda Center in California only lasted a total of 80 seconds before Garcia ‘brutally’ knocked out the former world title challenger, with footage of the victory having since gone viral.
You can check out his incredible victory below:
Fonseca, 25, only managed to land one punch in the fight before he was knocked out by Garcia, who dodged the boxer’s right jab with ease before delivering a hook with his left, striking his temple.
The 25-year-old dropped to the floor, his head bouncing off the floor before laying there motionless as the referee waved his hands and checked for a pulse. The crowd then went wild as it was confirmed Garcia had won.
Garcia told ESPN:
It was good. [The fight] didn’t last that long, but I watched a video of Sugar Ray Robinson, and he did this little feint and threw the perfect left hook. I saw it and went for the left hook.
Thought I was going to go longer, not going to lie. I respect Fonseca and thank him for the opportunity.
Since his impressive victory, fans of the boxer have described it as an ‘absolutely brutal’ knockout – one going as far to say Garcia is single-handedly saving the sport of boxing, adding: ‘wow you love to see it.’
Bleacher Report writer Jonathan Snowden commented: ‘Ryan Garcia wrecked that dude before he could even start his Instagram story.’
Another said the boxer had ‘made their Valentine’s Day’, while one person wrote: ‘Judging by the tweets, seems like I need to watch Ryan Garcia’s fight from last night.’ Yep, I’d say you do.
One Twitter user wrote:
Every fight he has Ryan Garcia proves even more so why he’s not to be messed with. The kid has got handssss
It wasn’t just fans of the boxer who showed support for him though, with fight commentator Sergio Mora tweeting that ‘a new star is born’.
Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe, who represents Gervonta Davis – a lightweight rival of Garcia’s – was also impressed with Garcia’s performance.
Garcia’s victory sees his record as a professional fighter move to 20 wins – 17 of those KOs – unbeaten.
Which I think we can all agree is impressive by anyone’s standards.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).