Eddie Hearn prospect dropped four times in stunning upset defeat on Andy Ruiz Jr undercard

Highly-touted Argentine prospect Alan Chaves fell to a shock defeat against unheralded Dominican Eridson Garcia on Friday night in Newark.

The pair met in a lightweight clash on the Andy Ruiz Jr vs Damian Knyba undercard at the Prudential Center.

Matchroom Boxing

Most felt the fight was a foregone conclusion before the opening bell, with Chaves opening up as a 7/1 favourite with the bookies.

The 25-year-old came into the fight fresh off an early Knockout of the Year contender in April against Miguel Madueno.

That victory earned him a contract with Eddie Hearn‘s Matchroom Boxing and top-10 rankings with all four major sanctioning bodies at 135lbs.

Garcia, meanwhile, had been widely written off as a stepping stone to a world title shot, having lost his last outing to Andres Cortes.

But the underdog had other ideas as he ripped up the script by dropping Chaves four times en route to a wide unanimous decision win.

The writing was on the wall from the opening stanza as Garcia effortlessly glided around the ring, peppering Chaves with sharp shots while evading the follow-up.

Chaves followed Garcia aimlessly around the ring and was made to pay in the second round when he walked into a power jab.

The shot sent him tumbling to the canvas, to the collective shock of observers at ringside.

Rather than wake him up, the knockdown only served to build further hesitancy in Chaves, who looked like a shadow of himself.

“This is not the Alan Chaves we are accustomed to seeing,” said Sergio Mora on the commentary desk.

Chaves was rocked badly at the end of the fourth frame and had to hold on for dear life to see out the round.

He was then dropped twice in the fifth round, once to the head and body, as the fight was beaten out of the was beaten out of the heavy-handed Argentine.

Chaves was given boost in the fifth frame when the referee scored a knockdown in his favour in the opening 30 seconds.

But upon further review, the New Jersey Athletic Commission deemed that Garcia had slipped and consequently overturned the 10-8 round.

Garcia immediately got back to work and continued to snap back Chaves’ head before dropping him for a fourth time with a lead hook in the ninth.

In the end, Chaves was able to hear the final bell, but the scorecards were a damning appraisal of his sluggish display.

99-87, 99-88, and 98-88 all in favour of Garcia.

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