Eight years of hard work went down the drain last Saturday night for junior middleweight contender Charles Conwell (21-1, 16 KOs), losing to Jorge Garcia (33-4, 26 KOs) by a 12-round split decision at the Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, California. The triple left hooks to the body that Jorge Perez was throwing all night were key.

(Credit: Golden Boy / Cris Esqueda)

Going into the fight, Conwell had the reputation of being the boogeyman in the 154-pound division, a fighter that the top contenders didn’t want to face due to his power and toughness.

Last night, Conwell, 27, met his match against Perez, who looked like a smaller version of the lanky Sebastian Fundora. Perez buried Conwell with his work rate, returning fire in speedy combinations when hit.

Conwell’s Mistakes

– Outworked
– Smothering his work
– Rabbit punching
– Failure to adapt

Conwell’s Limitations

Conwell failed to make any adjustments to devise a different strategy for dealing with Perez’s high work rate and combination punching. His corner was asking him to box Jorge, 28, but he wasn’t listening to them. Each round, he would start on the outside and then take the fight to the inside. It looked like Conwell was trying to stall out the rounds because he didn’t possess the arsenal to match the number of punches that Perez was throwing.

Conwell’s game is based on throwing single power punches to wear down his opponents. That style had worked for him during his career against the lesser opposition his promoters had matched him against. Last night, Conwell found himself in against a guy that was all wrong for his single-punch game.

Conwell came into the fight ranked #2 WBO and #5 WBC at 154. He’ll likely see his rankings drop off after this loss. He’ll still be ranked in the top 15, but he’ll be a long way away from getting a world title shot. None of the champions are going to choose him as a voluntary defense because he hits too hard, and he’s not a marketable fighter. So, he’s going to have to work his way back and try to become mandatory for one of the belt-holders. It could take years unless he’s super busy.

Garcia’s Arrival

“Hard work and dedication. We’re ready for what comes next. We want the big rivals,” said Jorge Garcia to Sean Zittel following his upset 12-round split decision win over Charles Conwell last Saturday night in Oceanside, California. “Midway,” said Perez when asked when he felt he took charge of the fight.

“A lot of punches. If he threw one, I threw two, four, five. Whoever. Whether it be Fundora or any of the other world champions,” said Perez about who he wants to fight among the champions at 154.