Big brother and trainer Luie Cortes passionately walked him through matters, though by the fifth, they just needed to stave off complacency after referee Thomas Taylor deducted Garcia a point for excessive holding in the fourth.Staying defensively sharp to avoid the same fate then-unbeaten Japanese contender Taiga Imanaga suffered in December, the 28-year-old did exactly that against a pre-betting favorite who couldn’t find his rhythm. That was painfully obvious through nine minutes, with just 23 punches connected by both, though that low-output suited Cortes (25-0, 13 KOs) as he punched into range and forward pressure is often given more credit by judges.
By the end, Garcia (23-2, 14 KOs) had thrown 387 total punches and landed almost 30 less (95-67) as the Las Vegas native could bask in the joy of proving more critics wrong after entering this contest a slight underdog.