Danny Garcia boxing news
Kelly Swanson
Thanks, everybody for joining us today for the Danny Garcia and Mauricio Herrera international media conference call. We are going to start first with Mauricio, as well as his trainer, Willie Silva, and then Danny Garcia will be joining us. I would now like to introduce Richard Schaefer, Chief Executive Officer of Golden Boy Promotions who will talk about the fight and make the formal introductions.
(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) Philadelphia, PA (Feb. 26, 2014) – Undefeated Unified Super Lightweight World Champion Danny Garcia (27-0, 16 KOs), of Philadelphia, and his father/trainer, Angel Garcia, hosted an open media workout on Wednesday at the DSG Boxing Gym in Philadelphia. Garcia is winding down preparations for his long-awaited debut to his native homeland and his world title defense against Maurcio Herrera (20-3, 7 KOs), of Riverside, Calif., on Saturday, March 15, in the main event on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING®live on SHOWTIME® (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, delayed on the West Coast).
In the SHOWTIME co-feature from Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, unbeaten knockout artist and American heavyweight hopeful, Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder (30-0, 30 KOs), of Tuscaloosa, Ala., faces veteran Malik Scott (36-1-1, 13 KOs) of Philadelphia.
(Photo credit: Ester Lin/Showtime) DANNY “SWIFT” GARCIA, Unified Super Lightweight World Champion
“I am a Puerto Rican. I could have been born on the moon, but I’m still Puerto Rican.
[On fighting in Puerto Rico] “It means a lot to me. Everybody in the stands is going to be Puerto Rican. I’ve never had that before.
“Even though I’m from Philly, that’s not my heritage. It’s important for me to reach out to my fans because I think Puerto Rican boxing needs this right now.
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO- World Boxing Association (WBA) and World Boxing Council (WBC) super lightweight champion, Danny “Swift” Garcia will arrive in Puerto Rico tomorrow to participate in the first press conference for his next title defense against Mexican Mauricio Herrera on Saturday, March 15, at the Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum in Bayamon, in a Golden Boy Promotions and Swift Promotions presentation, in association with PR Best Boxing Promotions Promotions (PRBBP), which will air on Showtime.
Karen B. (Baltimore, MD): As a huge Lamont Peterson fan, I was very happy to see him win last Saturday night. What were your thoughts on his performance, and how do you see a proposed bout between he and Danny Garcia going if they do face off next?
Vivek W. (ESB): Coming into the night, I wanted to really get a feel for where Peterson was mentally, at this stage in his life. We’ve seen Peterson at the top of the ranks, and we’ve seen him look far less threatening. The past has taught us that Peterson can be whatever Peterson wants to be when his mind is right. Some would raise the failed steroid test. My response would be that it’s a non-factor. The lead official for the medical staff produced proof that he was being treated for a condition and the traces found were low enough to pass any other drug test in the sport except the overly stringent “zero policy” VADA based testing. Couple that with the fact that he was cleared by the IBF, and certainly you have to view it as a non-issue. What we saw Saturday was a man with a clean system, and after that performance, one could argue a clean slate and a bright future.
WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia (27-0, 16 KO’s) will be back in the ring on March 15th against an opponent still to be determined, according to Dan Rafael. Garcia, 25, last fought in September in beating Lucas Matthysse by a 12 round unanimous decision on the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez pay-per-view card on Showtime. The Garcia-Matthysse fight was the co-feature bout, and it wasn’t quite as good as it was expected to be due to the continuous circling of the ring and holding that Garcia did in the fight.
“Been told @DannySwift’s next fight will be March 15,” Rafael said. “He’ll be defending his title, not moving up, on @SHOsports. Opponent/site TBA.”
Former WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz (29-4-2, 22 KO’s) is expecting big things if he can get past 32-year-old former WBA World welterweight champion Luis Collazo (34-5, 17 KO’s) next month in their scheduled 10 round fight on January 30th at the Barclays Center, in Brooklyn, New York, USA.
Ortiz is hoping that a victory over Collazo will get him a big fight against Danny Garcia, the WBA/WBC light welterweight champion. That fight, if it takes place, would be held in the 147 lb. division.
Before last night’s impressive victory over hard punching Argentine Lucas Matthysse, universally recognized Junior Welterweight Champion Danny “Swift” Garcia felt like the “Rodney Dangerfield” of the sports world.
Although Danny had garnered an undefeated résumé of 26 victories, no losses, and 16 knock-outs leading into last night’s co-main event, most “knowledgeable” boxing scribes and ringside experts discounted the 25 year old’s chances of beating the highly touted knock-out artist from South America.
Even with big victories over former champions Amir Khan, Erik Morales, Kendall Holt, and Zab Judah, it seemed the Philly native was still fighting for the long overdue respect of the boxing community.
Now that Garcia has finally acquired the appropriate accolades that an undisputed champion justly deserves, has he earned a prime spot atop the long waiting list of possible opponents for Floyd Mayweather Jr. as well?