In the scheduled
10-round main event, WBC/WBA junior welterweight champion Danny Garcia,
Philadelphia, stopped Rod Salka, Pittsburgh, in round two, after three brutal
knockdowns. The fight was a non-title bout. The first knockdown came from a
hard right hand. Another right put Salka on the deck for the second time.
Finally, a left hook dropped Salka again. Referee Steve Willis stopped the
fight at 2:31 of round two. Garcia remained undefeated, 29-0, 17 KOs. Salka
lost for the fourth time, 19-4, 3 KOs. On a potential matchup with Lamont
Peterson..."I leave it up to Al Haymon, but if he [Peterson] wants it.
I'll give it to him. I show up fight night and sometimes I have good nights or
bad nights, but I always find a way to win.
Lamont Peterson, Washington, DC, defended his IBF junior welterweight title
with a 10th round TKO of Edgar Santana, New York. Peterson, 33-2-1, 16 KOs,
scored well with a blistering body attack throughout the fight and landed
chopping power shots all night long. Peterson only used his feet to reposition
himself and to take an occasional breather. The rest of the time, he stayed in
the pocket and chopped away at his rugged foe. Santana, 29-5, 20 KOs, landed as
well, but Peterson outworked him in every round. There were no knockdowns in the
fight, but the fifth round could have been scored 10-8, given the amount of
punishment Peterson dished out. Finally in round ten, with Peterson landing
freely to the head and body, the ringside physician signaled that he wanted the
fight to be stopped. So referee Pete Santiago halted it at 2:48 of the tenth.
It was bombs away in the first round of the Daniel Jacobs-Jarrod Fletcher
vacant WBA middleweight championship fight. Jacobs, Brooklyn, came out fast and
dropped Fletcher with a nasty left hook in round one. After that, it seemed
that every punch Jacobs threw hurt the Australian, but somehow he made it to
the end of the round. In round two, Jacobs appeared to ease off for some
reason, instead of going for the knockout. “When I hurt him in the first round
and he didn’t go out, I wanted to pace myself and not get tired,” Jacobs said.
Jacobs kept the upper hand as the rounds ticked by, but didn’t come close to
putting his opponent down again. However, in round five, just when Fletcher
appeared to be getting brave, Jacobs refocused and went for the kill. A hard
left hook softened Fletcher before a pair of rights put him down again. Referee
Michael Griffin stepped in and stopped the fight at 2:58 of round five. Jacobs
improved to 28-1, 25 KOs. Fletcher fell to 18-2, 10 KOs.
