Hector Garcia Dethrones Roger Gutierrez to Win WBA Championship!
In the opening bout on the undercard of the Omar Figueroa Jr v Sergey Lipinets Showtime broadcast, WBA Super 130-pound champion Roger “The Kid” Gutierrez (26-4-1, 20KOs) took on Hector “El Androide” Garcia (16-0-1, 10KOs).
After fighting twice in 2021 and winning the WBA Regular title over Renee Alvarado, the two would have a rematch with Gutierrez winning yet again. Now that his chapter with Alvarado is over, Gutierrez is ready to make his 2022 ring debut and the second defense of his title.
He’ll do so against #1 (WBA) contender Hector Garcia. Garcia, a 2016 Olympian for the Dominican Republic, comes into this fight full of confidence. Back in February, Garcia upset previously unbeaten, former WBA Interim 130-pound champion Chris Colbert by a dominant unanimous decision. In that fight, El Androide would drop Primetime and simply out-fight and outclass him for twelve rounds.
PURE DOMINATION!
The challenger, Garcia, started the bout off strong as he was immediately able to establish his straight left hand that landed on the champion frequently. For Gutierrez’s part, he was able to land his hard straight right hand. Throughout the first nine rounds of the fight, Garcia was the aggressor and dominated a surprising, stationary Gutierrez.
The bodywork of Garcia set the tone as he punished an unwilling Gutierrez, who elected to stand in the center of the ring with his hands up. Not only was the challenger pressing the action, he also switched things up as he countered the champion with punishing right uppercuts and straight lefts.
GUTIERREZ ARRIVES! TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE!
Rounds 10–12 were by far the most competitive of the fight. Gutierrez found his second wind and started letting his hands fly! He would unleash his hard right hand that connected and seemed to get the respect of the challenger.
However, it was too little, too late as the El Androide simply banked in too many early rounds. At the end, Hector Garcia would be announced as the winner by way of a unanimous decision. The scores were 117-111 twice and 118-110. After his second consecutive upset, it’ll be interesting to see who Garcia faces next.
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By: Jerrell Fletcher
