Garay overcame the worst adversities

By Héctor Villarreal

The main event of the card presented by Promociones y Eventos del Istmo on Thursday night at Fantastic Casino Albrook, Panamá surpassed all expectations.

Unheralded light flyweight Johnny Garay (6-4-1, 6 KOs), inspired by a deceased baby a few weeks ago and the passing of his wife following a lung infection just 72 hours before, chose to go through with his long-awaited rematch against former WBC silver minimumweight titlist Carlos “Arañita” Ortega (14-5-3, 5 KOs) and fought a war in a bout which ended in a draw.

Garay sent his favored opponent to the canvas in round three of the fight scheduled for eight, but Ortega recovered and came back in round four to knock the underdog down and regain control of the action. Each judge scored a different fight. Fernando Murray voted 76-74 in favor of Ortega, Victor Simmons scored 77-73 for Garay and Alex Marin made it a draw 75-75.

“I had considered pulling out of the scheduled bout because of my mourning. I skipped my workout for two days but my trainers convinced me to attend the weigh-in and get rid of seven pounds to make 108.5. Some fans thought that I was only trying to save the show and get paid. Not so many imagined that I could regain focus and determination to beat Ortega, because I think I won,” Garay said.