Garcia bounces back, KO's Rios in ninth round of exciting fight

All it takes is one punch.

Danny Garcia was in for a tough fight Saturday night against a game Brandon Rios at Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, but one counter right hand, and that's all she wrote, as Garcia scored a ninth-round technical knockout.

It was Garcia's first fight since suffering the first loss of his career last March against current welterweight titleholder Keith Thurman.

"I felt the ring rust a little bit in the beginning. My eyes weren't as sharp as I wanted it to be," Garcia said. He [Rios is a good inside fighter. He was giving me some good inside uppercuts.

"I felt good. Good nine rounds. He came to fight," he added. "I came to box. I did that. I came to bang; I gave the fans what they wanted -- a knockout."

FightNights.com had the bout 77-74 for Garcia at the time of the knockout.

Rios, who fought bravely the entire fight and forced Garcia to trade, was understandably upset.

"I’m a warrior, and I got up. I’m ready to continue, but I guess the corner stops it, but I’m f**king mad," Rios said. I know they [my corner] love me and everything, but I got up fine. They can stop it when I’m f—-ing dying. I’ll die in that ring. That’s where I’m mad. I’m mad because I got up."

Garcia thoroughly outclassed Rios in the first round behind a solid jab, left hooks to the body, and effective combinations.

Rios had trouble landing, but scored with two lefts in the second round, while Garcia connected with a few jabs.

Although Rios had a better third round, Garcia stole it by slipping in some left hooks to the body with his back on the ropes.

His father and trainer Angel Garcia was warning him in the corner not to give Rios the ropes.

Rios connected with a good straight right hand in the sixth that got the attention of Garcia, but the former two-division world champion fired back with an overhand right that stopped Rios in his tracks.

Rios also landed a number of uppercuts on Garcia throughout the bout, and thought he was doing well.

"I think I was doing really good in there. I think I was breaking him down, little by little. He was ready to get tired. I was feeling it," Rios said. "But like I said, it was one of those things where I got lazy with my jab, and he just caught me over with it."

But that turned out to be his undoing in the eighth, when Garcia uncorked a beautiful counter cross, and the head of Rios turned sideways as he crashed to the floor.

The sparks though did not stop there, as former welterweight titlist Shawn Porter confronted Garcia, accompanied by his father/trainer Kenny Porter.

The elder Porter has gone as far to say in recent weeks that Garcia has been ducking his son.

"You want some work, too?" Garcia said to Porter.

"You're in my backyard," Porter replied.

"Vegas is my backyard," Garcia fired back.

"You think it's your backyard," Porter said.

Garcia then fired out the names of a few world class fighters that he had previously beaten.

"Amir Khan, Lucas Matthysse...you're from Ohio boy! You're not from Vegas!

"I'll come spar your a** and beat your a** for free! We can take it in the street if you want to!"

Showtime's Jim Gray finally had to take control of the situation and ordered the Porters to get out of the ring.

This is eerily similar to the way the Thurman-Garcia fight was hyped. Could this mean Garcia-Porter is next, with the winner getting a rematch with Thurman?

Either way, the welterweight division is red hot.