Irish lightweight Jamie Kavanagh wins by technical decision against Salvador Garcia

Kavanagh victorious after technical decision in California last week

Lightweight Jamie Kavanagh (13-0-1, 5 KOs) defeated Salvador Garcia (14-7, 7 KOs) by technical decision at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California, last Friday night.

The fight was stopped at the end of the fifth round due to cuts sustained by Garcia over both eyes.  Referee Pat Russell deemed the lesions too serious for the California native to continue, and with Kavanagh leading 50-44 on all three judges' scorecards, the Irishman was awarded the victory via TD.

Before Kavanagh flew to Europe on Saturday for a break, the Irish Voice caught up with the boxer to get his take on the night. 

“We didn’t know a lot about him.  Some said he was a boxer and some said he was a fighter. In the first round I stood off him to see what he was going to do, but he stood off too,” said Kavanagh.

“My plan was to put him under pressure, and in the second round he came out and threw more punches. We worked on defense, pressure, keeping low and getting shots off.”

Kavanagh went on to say that recent opponents have tried to derail him was putting him under sustained pressure.  He and his team decided that he would set the pace for this fight and show that he could be the pressure fighter when necessary.

“I dropped him in the fourth or fifth.  I evaded a punch and caught him. He tried to hold onto me but he fell to the ground,” said Kavanagh, who went on to say his fight was supposed to be on the Sho Box telecast but that the Braulio Santos/Kevin Hoskins super-featherweight fight was moved up to the telecast instead.

That fight ended after 57 seconds, but Kavanagh added that he is hoping the positive feedback he received from this performance will help land him another TV spot in the near future. Kavanagh, who saw potential fights in January and February fall through, will be back in LA in early April and hopes to stay busy for the rest of the year. 

“I am happy with how my career is progressing, and I am happy with Golden Boy, who have given me everything I have asked for,” he said.

In other news, light heavyweight Seanie Monaghan confirmed to the Irish Voice on Monday afternoon that he will fight Dion Stanley on April 13 at Radio City Music Hall on the undercard of the Nonito Donaire/Guillermo Rigondeaux fight for the WBO and WBA super bantamweight titles.

Stanley (11-4) is a 36-year-old veteran from Kansas City who last fought in May 2011.  Team Monaghan is looking at this assignment as another opportunity for the 31-year old to hone his skills.  The contest is scheduled for eight rounds.  

Monaghan also told the Irish Voice that his representatives are in negotiations for “a big fight” with another unbeaten light heavyweight, Ryan Coyne (21-0, 9 KOs), after the April fight.  Coyne who goes by the moniker The Irish Outlaw,” would represent Monaghan’s biggest challenge to date. 

​
Nster.com