Saturday night, Oct. 20, undefeated WBA, WBC and Ring super lightweight champion Danny Garcia of Philadelphia capped off a huge night of championship boxing at the new Barclay Center in Brooklyn by knocking out Mexican legend Erik Morales in the fourth, improving his perfect record to 25-0, with 16 KOs.
Garcia established a brutal body attack early and connected with a straight right to the head at the bell at the end of the third. Morales appeared to be out on his feet, as he stumbled first towards the wrong corner, and then had to be helped to his own stool.
Morales was clearly still in trouble at the start of Round 4. His legs were gone and Garcia was able to easily back him into the ropes. At 1:23 of the frame the 24-year-old champion connected with a near perfect left hook that spun Morales around and sent him crashing through the ropes.
Morales' trainer had seen enough, jumping into the ring and forcing a stoppage before the referee could even start his count.
It was an exciting conclusion to a terrific Showtime card that featured four world championship bouts. But the thrill of the moment was diminished considerably by the fact that this was a fight that quite frankly made no sense at all.
The hungry young lion taking down the aging legend is one of the oldest stories in boxing. It's never easy to watch a great ring warrior like Morales go down the way he did against Garcia, but it's a part of the sport, and most of boxing's greatest champions have ultimately met similar fates.
But Garcia and Morales had already fought earlier this year, in March. After a slow start, Garcia went on to win a very one-sided decision, sending Morales to the canvas in Round 11 for good measure.
Garcia against Morales last March was a compelling bout. Morales was riding a sudden and unexpected career resurgence, having staged a surprisingly competitive fight against the very tough Marcos Maidana in April of 2011, losing by majority decision. He followed that up by becoming the first four division Mexican world champion when he stopped Pablo Cano in 10 in Sept.
Garcia, meanwhile, was a hot undefeated prospect who had yet to test himself against anybody of Morales' stature.
After capturing the WBC strap from Morales, Garcia went on to take Amir Khan's WBA version of the belt in July, TKOing the British star in sensational fashion in the fourth. That win also made Garcia The Ring champion and one of the sport's brightest rising stars.
This rematch with Morales was a pointless step back for him. It was marginally interesting to see the improvement he has made since their battle last March, when he started slowly.
But that he had improved was hardly surprising. He is a very gifted 24-year-old champion gaining experience and confidence. That he would beat a hard-traveled 36-year-old like Morales more easily in the rematch cannot have surprised anybody who follows the sport.
Garcia looks like he has the potential to be a very special fighter, capable of forging his own Hall of Fame legacy. His current spot at the top of the heap at 140 pounds is well earned. But he is not without worthy challengers.
And the No. 1 fighter who deserves the next crack at Garcia is not even debatable. It is Lucas Matthysse of Argentina, the WBC interim 140-pound title holder.
Now I'm not really going to go into the absurdity of the WBC having a very active and highly regarded regular champion like Garcia and an "interim" champion like Matthysse waiting in the wings. The alphabet soup of various belts is too confusing for even most full-time, professional boxing writers to keep track of.
Nevertheless, Matthysse is the obvious No. 1 contender at 140. He sports a 32-2 record with 30 stoppages. His two losses were both by split decision, to Zab Judah and Devon Alexander, and they have both been highly criticized.
To a lot of people, Matthysse still deserves to be viewed as undefeated.
Since his setback against Alexander in June of 2011, Matthysse has stopped four straight opponents, including previously unbeaten Ajose Olusegun by Round-10 TKO last month.
Garcia and Matthysse would be a potential fight-of-the-year candidate. The Argentinian is a ferocious boxer-brawler who will take the fight to the champion, pushing the talented young Garcia in a manner he has not yet encountered.
There are other credible fights for Garcia to be sure. A rematch against Khan would not be as pointless as the Morales rematch was. Khan is a very skilled young fighter and was outclassing Garcia early when they fought in July.
Khan does have chin problems, and my opinion is that Garcia would inevitably manage to rock him again the second time around. But Khan has a resume that warrants a reconsideration.
Lamont Peterson is the IBF title holder at 140, a belt he won from Khan by controversial split decision last December. Garcia was in fact a replacement for Peterson last July, after Peterson tested positive for PEDs.
There have been rumors that Peterson's first fight back will be against undefeated Timothy Bradley. But a fight with Garcia would make a lot more sense.
And veteran southpaw Zab Judah continues to keep himself relevant at 140, having given previously undefeated Vernon Paris a boxing lesson en route to a Round-9 TKO last March.
But Garcia against Matthysse is the fight that should happen, in a rational boxing universe. They are the two hottest fighters in the division, the unqualified No. 1 and No. 2.
Their schedules should line up perfectly for a showdown in the first part of 2013.
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