Hector Garcia scored a stunning decision win over Chris Colbert this past weekend.
The bout headlined the Premier Boxing Champions card, which aired live on Showtime from Las Vegas. It was a title eliminator for the WBA super featherweight title.
Garcia (15-0, 10 KOs) stepped in for the WBA Super Featherweight World Champion Roger Gutierrez less than three weeks ago after Gutierrez was forced to withdraw due to a positive COVID-19 test. Despite having little time to prepare, , the southpaw Garcia used his height and powerful left hand to dominate Colbert (16-1, 6 KOs) by scores of 118-109, 118-109 and 119-108.
“I have to thank everyone in my corner, Ismael Salas and Bob Santos, and everyone that worked with me,” said Garcia. “I feel great. I definitely knew three weeks ago that my life would change. My trainers gave me the confidence to win this fight.”
In the end it was Garcia, a 2016 Dominican Olympian, who performed like the favored fighter, punishing Colbert and pushing him back and potentially earning a title shot against Gutierrez.
A former valedictorian of his high school, Gary Antuanne Russell (15-0, 15 KOs) passed the biggest test of his career with flying colors, stopping the former world champion Viktor Postol (31-4, 12 KOs) abruptly in the tenth and final round of their super lightweight bout in the co-main event.
With his promoter, the former two-division champion Marcos Maidana urging him on from ringside, Argentina’s Fernando Martinez punished Jerwin Ancajas over 12 rounds to wrest away his IBF junior bantamweight title via a unanimous decision in a star-making performance in the opener.