Ryan Garcia rallies early in the knockdown to knock out Luke Campbell with a bullet to the body for emphatic victory

The questions exist for all potential boxing superstars. Can you handle a real step in the opposition? Can you handle real adversity? Are you going to get off the web and find a way to win? These questions get stronger the greater the hype. Ryan Garcia was asked each of those questions against Luke Campbell in Dallas on Saturday and answered with a resounding “yes”, scoring a knockout to the body in the seventh round of their bout for the interim WBC lightweight championship.

Garcia established control through aggression early in the fight, putting pressure on Campbell’s jab to land his own hard left hooks and straight right hands. The speed of Garcia’s hand made Campbell uncomfortable and unable to establish a clear attacking game plan. But, in the second round, Campbell landed a huge left hook that shook Garcia’s head and dropped the 22-year-old prodigy to the canvas.

Garcia lifted himself off the canvas and made his way through the end of the second round, recovering himself in the corner before immediately regaining control of the fight, racking up laps on the scorecards.

“I’ve never been abandoned in my life,” Garcia said after the fight. “I think I got a little too excited at the time. I knew I was in control and wanted the dog. I wanted to crack him and he cracked me up.… I was a little bit dizzy. I’m not going to lie. But it wasn’t that bad. “

Garcia looked set to get a save at the end of the fifth inning, landing a big left hook and right uppercut that sent Campbell tripping over the ropes. Campbell was saved by the bell before Garcia could follow up, but it felt like it was only a matter of time before Garcia’s pressure, speed and power ended things.

In Round 7, Garcia closed the show, landing a crushing left hook on the body. Campbell took a knee after a delayed reaction but failed to get back on his feet as the referee’s tally hit 10 to give Garcia the knockout victory at 1:58 of the round.

Garcia has been criticized by some corners of the boxing world for both classic (good looks and hype) and modern (social media influencer status) reasons. The fight with Campbell, a former Olympic gold medalist and two-time world title challenger who has hung out with the division’s elite for years, was seen by many of these critics as a step too big in the competition for the young star. Campbell had not been stopped in his previous three losses, including managing to fight when he was knocked down by Vasily Lomachenko, giving Garcia a nice feather in his cap.

The rising Mexican-American star felt that those doubts were cleared up during his post-fight interview.

“I think I’ve shown a lot of people who I really am,” Garcia said. “Coming into this fight, I wanted to show people that whatever they call you, they wanted to call me a ‘social media fighter’ and a lot of things. Your teacher can call things to you, even your parents, whoever tries to put you down and tell you you can’t become something. Remember, you are not what people tell you you are. You are who you choose to be. I chose to be a champion tonight. I wasn’t going to let anything stop me, even when he let me down. I got up. It was a good shot. I was cold and he let me down. I was like, ‘Yo, I fell down. It’s crazy.’ “

The light division is arguably the most exciting in all of boxing. Young stars like Teofimo Lopez, Gervonta “Tank” Davis and Devin Haney took control at 135 pounds. Despite the achievements of everyone involved, such as Lopez beating Lomachenko to win three of the four recognized world championships, Garcia is perhaps the man with the most influence based on his star power inside. and outside the ring.

With the option to call his shot, Garcia said he would like to fight Haney, but focused on Davis as his best option moving forward.

“I am a man of my word,” Garcia said. “Let’s go Tank. I’m ready. Let’s go.

Battle card, results

• Ryan Garcia beats. Luke Campbell via TKO – Round 7 to win interim WBC lightweight title
• Roger Gutierrez beats. Rene Alvarado (c) via unanimous decision (113-112, 113-112, 113-112) to win the WBA (regular) Super Featherweight title
• Felix Alvarado (c) defeats. DeeJay Kriel via TKO – Round 10 to retain IBF junior flyweight title
• Raul Curiel beats. Ramses Agaton via TKO – Round 2
• Sean Garcia beats. René Marquez by majority decision (38-38, 39-37, 39-37)

Garcia vs Campbell scoreboard, live coverage