INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Featherweight contender Joseph Diaz Jr. defeated Horacio Garcia by a shutout decision in a 10-round fight on the Bernard Hopkins-Joe Smith Jr. card Saturday at the Forum.

Garcia (30-2-1, 21 knockouts) was the aggressor most of the bout, as he fought moving forward and landed many punishing body shots. However, Diaz (23-0, 13 KOs) countered effectively the entire fight, landing sharp, accurate punches consistently to win rounds.

Garcia let his punches fly in the final around in an apparent attempt to salvage victory but even then Diaz got the better of the action with his efficiency. According to CompuBox stats, Diaz landed more than twice as many punches as Garcia – 266 (of 629) to 116 (of 690). That’s a connect rate of only 17 percent for Garcia.

Neither fighter went down or was seriously hurt in the fight.

The judges all scored it 100-90. THE RING had it 99-91 for Diaz.