Gilroy’s Robert Guerrero was the aggressor and won the crowd, but Danny Garcia was the sharper puncher and won the unanimous decision Saturday for the World Boxing Council welterweight title in Los Angeles.
Guerrero (33-4-1) lost 116-112 on all three scorecards, which meant each of the three judges thought he won only four rounds.
Two of those rounds were the fourth and fifth, when The Ghost was backing up the unbeaten former 140-pound champion and looked the stronger of the two, seemingly taking control of the bout.
But Garcia (32-0) landed the sharpest blows of the fight in the sixth and seventh rounds and more than held his own thereafter.
Although Guerrero, at 32 five years Garcia’s senior, kept the pressure on throughout the bout, Garcia’s quicker hands proved decisive in several rounds, the judges indicated.
The booing of the decision by the Staples Center fans suggested otherwise, though.
“I want a rematch and that’s it,” Guerrero said. “Not one person out there thought Danny won but his team. I pressured him, I nailed him, busted his body up. I out-jabbed him.”
The statistics didn’t back Guerrero up, favoring Garcia 163-108 in punches landed and also favored him in punches thrown, percentage of punches landed and power shots landed.
“I felt like I won the fight fairly,” Garcia said. “The judges say the same thing.”
Garcia gave respect to Guerrero after the fight and was happy to come away with a hard-fought win.
“I showed I can stand toe to toe with a great veteran and win the fight,” said Garcia, who made his second appearance as a welterweight, and had a much harder time with The Ghost than with Paulie Malignaggi in his welterweight debut.
The scorecards also read 116-112 times three in 2013 when Guerrero fought the great Floyd Mayweather. But Saturday’s bout was far more satisfactory than that for Guerrero, who certainly maintained his world-class stature despite losing for the third time in his past five fights.
It may have been Guerrero’s signature fight, even though he lost. He was valiant and impressive, and the “great veteran” proved he belongs in there with the best.
“It’s all for the fans,” Guerrero said. “They thought I won the fight. That’s why they bring me back.”
