It was more of a clunker than a classic, with most of the suspense coming after Keith Thurman and Danny Garcia had fought for 12 rounds at Barclays Center.
That’s when a record crowd for boxing of 16,533 waited to hear what turned out to be a split decision. When it was announced that Thurman of Clearwater, Fla., had captured the WBA and WBC welterweight titles, it was a bit anticlimactic.
Two judges saw Thurman winning, 116-112 and 115-113, while another judge favored Garcia 115-113. The Post scored it 116-112 for Thurman. A rematch likely will happen somewhere down the road, but it won’t be demanded. The action wasn’t as consistent or dramatic as expected. The two unbeaten champions did most of their work in short, quick flurries.
Each believed he did enough to win.
“I thought I was the aggressor,” Garcia said. “I thought I pushed the pace. But it didn’t go my way.”
Thurman thought he won easily.
“I out-boxed him,” he said. “I thought it was a clear victory.
“I was not going to give the fight way,” Thurman added. “I felt like I had a nice little lead. I felt like we were controlling him.”
Thurman entered the fight a slight favorite, though most saw it a pick-’em. It was only the third time in boxing history two unbeaten belt-holders had fought to unify welterweight titles.
Thurman was the aggressor early, trying to work behind his jab. Garcia answered by attacking the body. Late in the first round, Thurman landed a hard left hand and then a solid right to the temple that hurt Garcia. Another hard right landed later in the round. As the bell sounded, Thurman was swinging lefts and rights, looking to do serious damage.
It was a promising start, but that might have been the best action of the fight. Garcia, who lost for the first time in 33 fights, had no answer for Thurman’s right hand that was hidden by a left jab. Thurman (28-0 with 22 KOs) tagged Garcia with it early in the third while the Philadelphia native seemed intent on working the body.
Garcia needed to pick things up entering the fourth. He continued to attack Thurman’s body, but was tagged by a left just as the round ended.
Garcia stayed in the fight, landing a hard counter right in the sixth, but Thurman used movement to switch between stalking Garcia and circling him. He stayed on his toes the rest of the fight.
Boos were heard from the record crowd, which was frustrated by the limited exchanges as most of the action came in the final seconds of each round.
“Keith ran for half the fight,” said Angel Garcia, Danny’s father and trainer. “Boxing is about hitting. It’s not about running. Danny tried to be the aggressor. But Keith was moving around so much.”
By the 10th, neither could be sure how the judges were seeing the fight. Garcia, who prides himself on finishing strong, tried to pick up his counter-punching. But Thurman looked like Oscar De La Hoya against Felix Trinidad, using constant movement to stay out of harm’s way.
It wasn’t a popular way to win, but proved good enough for Thurman.
In the co-feature, Erickson Lubin continued to make noise in the super welterweight division with a stunning fourth-round knockout of Jorge Cota. Lubin landed a roundhouse left hook in the fourth that landed flush on Cota’s chin. The Mexican went down and couldn’t get to his feet before being counted out. It was Lubin’s 13th knockout in 18 wins without a loss. Cota lost for only the second time in 27 fights.