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Errol Spence Jr. successfully defended his IBF welterweight world title for the third time, unanimously reigning previously undefeated challenger Mikey Garcia on Saturday night.
Garcia climbed two weight clbades to face Spence and was beaten all the way, even though he never fell. Garcia, visibly exhausted, spent the last innings blocking the shots instead of throwing them.
Spence improved to 25-0 after the three judges awarded him each round. One card was 120-107, and the other two were 120-108.
It was the first time Spence had to walk the distance in his last 12 fights.
Garcia, who went from 135 to 147 pounds in his bid to become a five-division champion, lost for the first time in 40 professional fights.
Spence received 345 of the 1,082 punches (32%). That included 237 of 464 (51%) of his punches when defending his second home title in North Texas in nine months.
During a round of the ninth round, Spence surrounded Garcia by making a full round of the ring while still beating.
Garcia shot 406 shots in total and was only 75 (18.5%). After receiving 43% of his power, he had only 25% (54 out of 218) against Spence.
Garcia was fighting for the first time since the unification of the IBF and WBC lightweight world titles with a unanimous decision last July over Robert Easter in Los Angeles. He was trying to become a champion of the five divisions.
Both fighters entered the arena with loud cheers and different types of music. Spence followed the fanfare of a local high school. Garcia has received a lot of support from the large number of Mexican fans in action.
Chants of "Mikey! Mikey! They broke out in the second and third rounds, but they faded as Spence continued to hit and the crowd reacted to hard blows much more for the champion than for the challenger.
The fight was held in midfield AT & T Stadium, the huge national stadium worth billions of dollars of the NFL's favorite team for both fighters. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was present with several players, including quarterback Dak Prescott, in the announced group of 47,525.
Jones and Prescott even entered the ring with Floyd Mayweather before the main event.
Nine months earlier, Jones and the Cowboys were also present when Spence won his second title defense in the 147-pound division. Spence blocked Carlos Ocampo, his previously undefeated opponent, in the first playoff round at the NFL team's practice center in Frisco, not far from home, at Desoto.
Garcia grew up around Oxnard, California, where the Cowboys annually host a portion of their preparatory training camp.
WBA welterweight world champion Manny Pacquiao, a five-division champion, was in the building and could be Spence's future opponent. Pacquiao won two fights for the title at the Cowboys Stadium in 2010, when he beat Joshua Clottey for the WBO welterweight crown and later Antonio Margarito for the vacant WBO superwets.
Pacquiao, 40, wants to return to the ring in July.
In the last card before the main event, former WBC super middleweight champion David Benavidez (21-0, 18 KO), scored 61 shots in just four minutes before his 10-round bout against J & Leon Love is stopped by the referee in the second round.
Former Mexican WBC silver bantamweight champion, Luis Nery, made his US debut with a TKO after knocking out McJoe Arroyo four times in four rounds before the scheduled fight of the ten bads Métis was stopped, as suggested by the corner before the fifth round. Nery, the 24-year-old left-hander who made comparisons with Pacquiao, is 29-0 after his 23rd knockout.
Dallas heavyweight Gregory Corbin lost for the first time in 16 professional fights after being disqualified in the eighth round after repeated blows against Charles Martin, who improved to 26-5-1. Corbin had won each round on the three scorecards until the seventh.
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