After feeling out his Mexican challenger in the first two rounds, Nietes was confident he can take the short route to keep his titles and by the third round it was time to unleash a power left hook to the face of Garcia and followed it up with a big body shot that sent Garcia down.
Sensing that Garcia was badly hurt in the early rounds, Nietes continued to throw power shots, mostly landing on the head of Garcia in the fourth round. He continued with a barrage of punches that landed on targets in the 5th round and by the sound of the bell to signal the start of the sixth round, Garcia failed to rise from his seat as Nietes was pronounced winner by TKO.
It was Nietes’ 27th win since his lone career loss to Angky Angkota in 2004. Nietes, who remains unbeaten in the last 10 years is the the Philippines’ longest-reigning world boxing champion.
“In the first round coach [Edmund Villamor] and I were looking whether I can handle Garcia’s power. I was looking for the right timing so within 3 or 4 rounds I got to him. I said to myself ‘I can knock him out,” Nietes said after the fight.
Nietes is set to face mandatory challenger Moises Fuentes in a rematch at the Stub Hub Center in Carson California on Sept. 24.
A win by Nietes against Fuentes could set him up for a lucrative fight against either Nicaraguan pound-for-pound king Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez or Juan Francisco Estrada of Mexico.
