PBC on Spike results: Danny Garcia wins tune-up

Danny Garcia def. Samuel Vargas by TKO (2:17 of round 7)

Garcia (33-0, 19 KO) did pretty much as expected, got some rounds in, didn’t press too much, boxed relaxed against an overmatched opponent. The fight was stopped by referee Gary Rosato, but the corner was jumping up to end it at about the same time, too. Vargas (25-3-1, 13 KO) went down in the second round on a massive right hand, which caused him to do a backwards somersault, but other than that it was just Garcia picking the spots where he wanted to throw shots. When he did, he landed. It was an easy night.

After the fight, Garcia and Keith Thurman talked some trash and got into one another’s faces, beginning the sell job for their March 4 fight. The good news is that fight sells itself, anyway, because it’s an actual good matchup.

Jarrett Hurd def. Jo Jo Dan by TKO (1:08 of round 6)

Hurd (19-0, 13 KO) let Dan work some early in this fight, but the undersized Romanian just couldn’t hurt the unbeaten prospect. Physically, they looked two weight classes apart in this one. Dan (35-4, 18 KO) is a longtime welterweight who came up to 154 in his last outing, a win last year over Rafal Jackiewicz, but this was a bridge too far for him. That said, he took some thudding shots from Hurd without going down — in fact, the only thing that did put him down was an obscene uppercut to the groin. Dan will probably get more fights like this one if he wants to exist as a professional opponent.

Javier Fortuna def. Omar Douglas by UD (95-94, 96-93, 96-93)

BLH had this a bit wider for Fortuna, at 97-92, but the scores were totally fair, too. 97-92 was about as wide as you could have had it, 95-94 as close, I think. Fortuna (31-1-1, 22 KO) was dropped in the first round, but took over the fight. He was able to stick and move on Douglas (17-1, 12 KO), who hung tough and kept trying to land power shots. At times, he got to Fortuna, but just not enough. It’s a nice rebound win for Fortuna, who does have a rematch clause with Jason Sosa, so that could be coming next in early 2017.