Ryan Garcia Defeats Oscar Duarte By 8th Round Knockout

Ryan Garcia got back in the win column on Saturday night with an eighth-round knockout win over Oscar Duarte at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.

After a back-and-forth affair for eight rounds, Garcia finally found a home for lightning fast left hook and poured on the pressure to knock Duarte down. Duarte didn't beat the count to end the fight.

Garcia came out early and utilized his reach advantage. He established the jab early and lead the dance in the early going. However, he still showed some of the defensive inconsistencies that plagued him the last time he was in the ring.

Garcia wasn't the only one dishing out offense, though. Duarte didn't back away from stalking Garcia down. He found success earlier in digging to the body and continued to open up as the fight progressed to the middle rounds.

Garcia's defensive woes continued to become more pronounced as the fight wore on. Specifically, he drew attention when he turned his back to Duarte in the face of pressure on multiple occasions.

Regardless of the criticisms and the relatively close nature of the fight, Garcia suddenly reminded fans why he does have some potential. He caught him with a quick left hook off of an errant right hand by Duarte.

From there, he poured on the pressure until Duarte went down.

The win marks Garcia's first fight since taking the first loss of his professional career to Gervonta "Tank" Davis in April. Davis continued his dominance in a 136-pound catchweight fight that saw Davis win most of the rounds leading up to the liver shot at put Garcia on the canvas for good.

It's always interesting to see how a fighter responds to their first loss, especially when it happens in a high-profile fight like Garcia's matchup with Davis which brought DAZN and Showtime together because of the massive audience the fight could bring.

Garcia has proven his ability to generate a fanbase with over 10 million followers on Instagram, but Instagram followers don't win fights and there has been a lot of tension between Garcia and Golden Boy Promotions.

The 25-year-old especially took exception to a comment that Hopkins made about encouraging Garcia to potentially hang up his gloves if he were to lose this fight.

"One thing that's been on my heart is the statements that Bernard made where he'll decide if I'm going to finish or if I should continue boxing after this fight," Garcia said, per Mike Coppinger of ESPN. "He don't decide that. My coach [Derrick James] does, my team does. Everybody that grinds with me, day in and day out, that's who decides."

Fortunately for Garcia, and Golden Boy, the hypothetical of Garcia losing to Duarte is off the table. He's back to fighting at a more natural weight for him and picked up a win against a game opponent in Duarte.

Garcia made some serious moves after losing to Davis, including the switch to trainer Derrick James, who was 2020's Trainer of the Year, and moving away from Los Angeles to train with James.

Those moves seem to be paying off. They have also opened the door for bigger fights down the line and more money to be made for Golden Boy. That is, if both sides can make amends and keep pressing forward.