Hector Garcia was the surprise of Saturday night when he defeated Chris Colbert by unanimous decision at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, during their World Boxing Association (WBA) super featherweight eliminator fight, in which the Gold title of the category was also at stake. 

The Dominican took the fight with a couple of weeks of anticipation since the champion Roger Gutierrez, tested positive for Covid-19. Thus, Garcia appeared as Colbert’s opponent at the last minute and gave a great performance to score a great win with cards of 119-108, 118-109 and 118-109.

The Caribbean made clear his ambition and desire from the first bell and went after Colbert with strong combinations and without any fear of entering the exchange.

The American’s shifty style was not enough against the pressure of Garcia, who was growing as the rounds went by and managed to keep Colbert on the ropes for many passages of the fight.

In the seventh round, a counterattack by Garcia sent the local boxer to the canvas and although he recovered he was never the same during the fight. Garcia went after Colbert as he tried to survive by moving around the ring until the final bell rang. 

Garcia now becomes the mandatory challenger for Gutierrez’s world title. 

The winner remains undefeated with 15 wins, 10 of them by knockout, while Colbert lost his and now has a record of 16 wins, 1 loss and 6 knockouts.