Ryan Garner and Michael Magnesi figured to deliver a good bit of action in today’s main event from St Mary’s Stadium in Southampton, England, and did not disappoint.
Hometown favorite Garner and Italy’s Magnesi tore it up for 12 very hard rounds of phone booth action, much of the bout seeing Magnesi pinned against the ropes as the two traded hooks and other power shots.
Judges scored the fight 116-112, 118-110, and 119-109 for Garner. BLH unofficially had it 117-111 for Garner.
When there was any distance
at all, Garner (20-0, 10 KO) separated himself a bit from Magnesi (26-3, 13 KO), who was otherwise toe-to-toe, and sometimes forehead-to-forehead, with “The Piranha.” Both men tested the referee’s patience a little bit, as any fight fought in such close quarters is bound to get a little rough and rugged, and this one certainly did.
The 28-year-old Garner wins the interim WBC super featherweight title, which in theory puts him in line for a shot at O’Shaquie Foster, but boxing is rarely so simple about such things, and any official order might take a while. Still, if Foster can’t land one of the bigger fights he wants, like Shakur Stevenson or Emanuel Navarrete, he could do worse than fighting Garner in a fan-friendly matchup.
Promoter Frank Warren suggested Anthony Cacace, as well as — a bit more slyly — Foster and Navarrete as possible Garner opponents, saying Garner would beat them all.
