In his toughest test to date, Ryan Garcia survived a second-round knockdown and rallied to stop Luke Campbell on a vicious left hook to the body in Round 7 on Saturday.
Ryan Garcia claims interim WBC lightweight title after Luke Campbell suffers technical knockout
Rising US star summoned all his strength for the victory after his 33-year-old opponent knocked him down in the second round
Ryan Garcia lands a left hook against Luke Campbell
Credit: Getty
Rising American star Ryan Garcia has claimed the interim WBC lightweight title after Luke Campbell suffered a technical knock out in Texas.
Returning to the ring for the first time since being beaten by Vasyl Lomachenko almost 18 months ago, the Briton was felled with a body blow by Garcia in the seventh round.
Garcia, who amassed an amateur record of 215-15 before turning to the paid ranks and is followed by 7.8 million people on Instagram, had to summon all his strength for the victory after his 33-year-old opponent knocked him down in the second round with a left hook.
Felix Alvarado retains title, but his twin brother, Rene, loses his by a point
97dNick Parkinson
Roger Gutierrez, right, defeated Rene Alvarado, left, to win the WBA regular junior lightweight title.
Tom Hogan/HoganPhotos/Golden Boy Promotions
•Has been reporting on British boxing for over 15 years
•Appears on BoxNation s Boxing Matters show
Punch Stats Courtesy of CompuBox
After seeing his twin brother, Felix Alvarado, score a 10th-round stoppage win to retain his IBF junior flyweight world title earlier on the card, Rene Alvarado went on to lose the title in his first defense by scores of 113-112 on all three scorecards.
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Watch Ryan Garcia vs. Luke Campbell full fight video highlights from the boxing showdown above, courtesy of DAZN.
Garcia vs. Campbell took place Jan. 2 at American Airlines Center in Dallas. Garcia (21-0, 18 KOs) battled Campbell (20-4, 16 KOs) for a vacant WBC interim lightweight title in the main event, which aired live on DAZN.
Garcia won the fight via KO at the 1:58 mark of the seventh round after landing a brutal body shot that rendered Campbell unable to continue. Garcia, who survived a second-round knockdown, captured the WBC title and extended his unbeaten streak to 21 fights.