Ryan Garcia vs. Luke Campbell results: Garcia survives knockdown, finishes Campbell with body shot in 7th

Andreas Hale

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Ryan Garcia vs. Luke Campbell results: Garcia survives knockdown, finishes Campbell with body shot in 7th image

The questions have been answered.

Ryan Garcia survived a second-round knockdown and scored the biggest knockout of his career when he landed a left to the body that finished Luke Campbell in the seventh round of their WBC interim lightweight title fight at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on Saturday. 

Garcia promised a knockout, but few expected how he would end up getting it. After demonstrating impressive sharpness and hand speed in the opening round, an overzealous Garcia was met by a vicious left hand that put the 22-year-old on the canvas for the first time in his career. Garcia made it to his feet and appeared to be in trouble. Instead of folding, Garcia sucked it up and went back on the attack and answered the first question about how he would deal with adversity. 

"I've never been dropped in my life," Garcia (21-0, 18 KOs) said after the fight. "I got a little too excited about the moment. I wanted to crack him and he cracked me. I had to adjust. I knew I could beat him. I had to show everyone what a warrior is really like." 

Garcia collected himself after the knockdown and then controlled the third and fourth rounds with superior hand speed and accuracy, both of which forced Campbell to be more reserved. The tide turned in the fifth when Garcia landed a trademark left hook in the final seconds that hurt Campbell badly. Little did Campbell know that the hook over the top would set up Garcia's finish.

Campbell survived an initial onslaught by Garcia in the sixth round and appeared to begin clawing his way back in the fight. But Garcia began to mix up his punches and had Campbell guessing. In the seventh, Campbell was overly concerned with another hook landing; Garcia changed levels to sink a left hook into the 2012 Olympic gold medalist's midsection. Campbell sank to his knees after a delayed reaction and the referee reached the count of 10. 

"He was very worried about that hook coming. He thought I was going up top and I changed direction real quick," a jubilant Garcia said after notching the biggest victory of his career. Not only did he survive the early scare, but he finished an opponent who had never been stopped beefore.  

"I think I showed a lot of people who I really am," Garcia said. "They wanted to call me a social media star. You aren't who people tell you who you are, you are who you choose to be."

The world is now Garcia's oyster. He made it clear who he wants to face next.

"I'm a man of my word; let's go, Tank," Garcia said, calling out Gervonta "Tank" Davis. "I really want to fight Tank. I fought an Olympic gold medalist. Linares and Lomachenko couldn't stop him and I did."

As WBC interim lightweight title, Garcia becomes the mandatory challenger to fellow rising star and WBC champion Devin Haney. 

"Listen, I'll fight Devin Haney, too. What do the people want to see?" Garcia asked.

Whoever it is, what the people really want to see is Ryan Garcia back in a boxing ring sooner than later. 

Ryan Garcia survives scare, stops Luke Campbell with body shot in 7th 

Round 7 (7:04 p.m.): Campbell popping the jab but Garcia tucks a right hand into Campbell’s chin. Garcia on the chase. Body shot by Garcia puts Campbell down!!! Campbell can't get up! Referee gets to the count of 10 and it is OVER!!!!!!

Round 6 (6:59 p.m.): Garcia is after Campbell to start the round. He is blitzing him with punches. Campbell survives the initial assault. Campbell lands a right cross. He’s got his legs back under him. Another combination lands by Garcia but Campbell returns fire. Check hook by Garcia and a right hand lands. Campbell lands a straight right. Campbell just isn’t busy enough to win these rounds. Garcia, 10-9 (58-55, Garcia)

Round 5 (6:55 p.m.): Garcia with a combination but Campbell punches in between and lands a short hook. Right hand by Campbell lands. Left to the body by Garcia. Right hand partially blocked. Garcia having a hard time landing a clean shot on Campbell. Campbell hasn’t thrown a lot of punches. Straight left by Garcia lands. Four punch combo from Garcia. Garcia CRUSHES Campbell at the end of the round! He’s up but WRECKED in the corner. Garcia, 10-9 (48-46, Garcia)

Round 4 (6:51 p.m.): Combination by Garcia blocked by Campbell. Another lands by Garcia. Campbell with a body shot. Right hand by Garcia shakes Campbell up a bit. Hard right hand by Campbell snaps Garcia’s head back. Garcia misses wildly. Close round. Garcia, 10-9 (38-37, Garcia)

Round 3 (6:47 p.m.): Campbell starts the third with a wide stance and Garcia is back in attack mode. Campbell lands an overhand left. Garcia rushes in and gets clipped by Campbell. Left to the body by Garcia. Campbell is excellent defensively thus far. Three body shots by Garcia. Campbell looking to counter. Garcia takes the third round. Garcia, 10-9 (28-28)

Round 2 (6:43 p.m.): Campbell meets Garcia in the middle of the ring and lands a left to the body. Left over the top by Garcia. Launches a barrage of punches but Campbell avoids the damage. Left hand by Campbell DROPS Garcia!!!! Garcia is up and Campbell is looking to finish him off. Garcia is shaky. Campbell stalking as Garcia is still in trouble. Garcia makes it out the round but we have a fight! Campbell, 10-8 (19-18, Campbell)

Round 1 (6:39 p.m.): Garcia starts by jabbing to the body. Hook and an uppercut by Garcia. Straight right by Garcia. Campbell lands a left to the body. Garcia lands a straight right hand that rocks Campbell. Garcia’s speed is impressive. Campbell having a hard time trying to time him. Garcia with a combination. Campbell lands a left hook. Strong opening round by Garcia. 10-9, Garcia

6:25 p.m.: As expected, Campbell enters the ring to jeers from the crowd at American Airlines Center in Dallas as Queen's "We Will Rock You" plays. Garcia follows and the crowd erupts as he enters being carried to the ring on a throne. It's clear that Garcia is a star, but can he prove that he's also championship material? We soon shall see.

6:11 p.m.: The main event is up next! Who are you picking? Will Ryan Garcia add another knockout to his resume against his toughest opponent on paper or will "Cool Hand" Luke put out the burning fire of Garcia?

6:05 p.m.: Roger Gutierrez needed every single one of those knockdowns as he won a narrow decision with scores of 113-112 across the board to become the new WBA (Regular) super featherweight champion. The final knockdown in the last round was the difference maker that pushed him ahead in the final minute. Incredible.

6 p.m.: With the fight hanging in the balance, Gutierrez scores another knockdown in the final round with a left hook that clipped Alvarado. Alvarado managed to survive the round and controlled a lot of the fight. However, three knockdowns are nearly impossible to overcome...unless your name is Juan Manuel Marquez. We'll see how the judges score it.   

5:52 p.m.: Entering the championship rounds, the fight is likely up in the air. After Alvarado fought his way back into the fight, the past few rounds have seen more of a nip and tuck affair between the two fighters. It's anyone's guess how the judges will have it. 

5:31 p.m.: This fight has shifted drastically over the last two rounds. Gutierrez appears to have completely punched himself out while Alvarado is rejuvenated and taking over. Those two knockdowns will certainly be a factor but Alvarado has recovered and pulled himself back into the fight as we enter the sixth round.  

5:23 p.m.: Things have started off much different this time around as Roger Gutierrez dropped Alvarado twice in the third round. But Alvarado demonstrated tremendous heart and fought back to close the round. This fight could end up being special. 

4:56 p.m.: After watching his twin brother turn in an exciting performance, Rene Alvarado (32-8, 21 KOs) is up next and will defend his WBA (Regular) super featherweight title against Roger Gutierrez (24-3-1, 20 KOs). It's a rematch from their fight three years ago that Alvarado won by knockout. Will we get another series of fireworks? 

4:48 p.m.: Kriel fought his way back into the fight but Alvarado put on a violent exhibition of punishment in the 9th round that nearly ended the fight. The 10th round continued the savage display of power punching as Alvarado strafed his opponent with a right hand and followed with a left over the top. The referee saw enough and rescued Kriel from further punishment. 

4:33 p.m.: Another knockdown by Alvarado sent Kriel crashing to the canvas as the punishment continues into the fourth round. The only thing we can credit Kriel for is his punch resistance. He doesn't have the power to keep Alvarado off of him. However, Kriel has managed to have a pair of decent rounds in the fifth and sixth rounds. He's still losing but maybe he's making this more of a fight?

4:17 p.m.: Alvarado has come out like a man possessed in the first two rounds. Ruthlessly aggressive as he charges forward and lobbing nothing but power punches. Kriel is trying to fight Alvarado off of him but to no avail. A left hook by Alvarado dropped Kriel in the second round and could be the beginning of the end.

4:06 p.m.: Another set of brothers are also featured on this card as twin brothers Felix and Rene Alvarado are competing tonight. The heavy-handed Felix Alvarado (35-2, 30 KOs) defends his IBF junior flyweight title first against DeeJay Kriel (16-1-1, 8 KOs).

3:50 p.m.: Curiel made easy work out of Agaton with a second-round stoppage. It was one-way traffic from the opening bell as Curiel dropped Agaton in the opening frame with a wicked body shot. Curiel wasted no time finishing the job as he charged Agaton in the second round and unleashed a barrage of power punches to get the stoppage. 

3:41 p.m.: Up next is Raul Curiel (8-0, 6 KOs) vs. Ramses Agaton (22-13-3, 12 KOs) in middleweight action.  

3:36 p.m.: We kicked off the day of events with Ryan Garcia's younger brother, Sean, squeezing out a narrow majority decision victory over Rene Marquez. It was a tough go for Garcia, who improved to 6-0, as Marquez gave him all he could handle. After a slow start, Garcia began utilizing his jab to keep his aggressive foe at range while hurting him with a right hook in the third. It was just enough to overcome one even card of 38-38 with two scores of 39-37 to remain undefeated. 

Ryan Garcia vs. Luke Campbell start time

  • Date: Saturday, Jan. 2
  • Time: 3 p.m. ET
  • Garcia-Campbell: 6 p.m. ET

The Garcia vs. Campbell main card begins at 3 p.m. ET. Garcia and Campbell expected to make their ring walks about 6 p.m. ET, although the time depends on the length of the earlier fights.

How to watch Garcia vs. Campbell fight

The Garcia vs. Campbell fight will stream live globally on DAZN, to more than 200 countries and territories, including the U.S. and Canada.

Those interested in watching the fight can find DAZN on a number of different systems, including, but not limited to, Amazon Fire TV/stick, Android, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, iOS devices, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Roku.

Viewers can also find it on DAZN.com using browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari.

Click here to learn more about DAZN .

Ryan Garcia vs. Luke Campbell results

  • Ryan Garcia def. Luke Campbell via knockout for the interim WBC lightweight title.
  • Roger Gutierrez def. Rene Alvarado via unanimous decision (113-112, 113-112, 113-112).
  • Felix Alvarado def. DeeJay Kriel via 10th-round TKO (1:39).
  • Raul Curiel def. Ramses Agaton via second-round TKO (1:16).
  • Sean Garcia def. Rene Marquez via majority decision (38-38, 39-37,39-37).
  • Tristan Kalkreuth vs. Jorge Martinez; cruiserweights
  • Asa Stevens vs. Francisco Bonilla; bantamweights
  • Franchon Crews-Dezurn vs. Ashleigh Curry; women's super middleweights
  • Alex Rincon vs. Sergio Gonzalez; super welterweights

Andreas Hale

Andreas Hale Photo

Andreas Hale is the senior editor for combat sports at The Sporting News. Formerly at DAZN, Hale has written for various combat sports outlets, including The Ring, Sherdog, Boxing Scene, FIGHT, Champions and others. He has been ringside for many of combat sports’ biggest events, which include Mayweather-Pacquiao, Mayweather-McGregor, Canelo-GGG, De La Hoya-Pacquiao, UFC 229, UFC 202 and UFC 196, among others. He also has spent nearly two decades in entertainment journalism as an editor for BET and HipHopDX while contributing to MTV, Billboard, The Grio, The Root, Revolt, The Source, The Grammys and a host of others. He also produced documentaries on Kendrick Lamar, Gennadiy Golovkin and Paul George for Jay-Z’s website Life+Times.