"Return of the King" - Fan reactions to Ryan Garcia's explosive knockout of Oscar Duarte [SLO-MO VIDEO]

Ryan Garcia (Right) during the knockout sequence (Left) (Images courtesy: @NNNANOO 'X' and @kingryan Instagram)

Ryan Garcia scored a devastating knockout win over Oscar Duarte to bounce back from the Gervonta Davis loss. Garcia suffered the first defeat of his professional boxing career when he challenged Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis for the non-title catchweight title in April 2023. The loss stripped the aura of invincibility off ‘King’. However, he made a statement with a dominant victory over Duarte.

Ryan Garcia vs. Oscar Duarte headlined the boxing event that took place on December 02, 2023, at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. Duarte, who defeated D’Angelo Keyes and Alex Martin via knockout earlier this year, was a +310 underdog heading into his third fight of the year.

Ryan Garcia took an early lead and appeared to be in control of the fight. Duarte rallied in the middle rounds and offered good resistance to Garcia’s calculated attacks. However, a check left hook from ‘King’ wobbled Duarte in round eight.

Garcia followed up with a vicious attack against the ropes and Duarte was forced to sit down on a knee. He failed to beat the referee count and Garcia was declared the winner by knockout.

Watch the knockout sequence below:

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The boxing community was impressed with Ryan Garcia’s impressive return to the win column.

DAZN Boxing’s official ‘X’ handle praised Garcia with a Lord of the Rings reference and posted:

“The Return of The King.”

“Even just watching through the screen, I could still feel those punches painfully.”

“Imagine if Ryan landed some hooks to the body, Duarte would have been done.”

“Garcia looked so sharp. The way he used his feet I loved. He’s potentially on the edge of a huge downfall in his career. He NEEDED that win. And staying out of the way of a huge puncher that has no footwork is smart anyway. Derrick James gets hella credit for this too.”