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Danny Garcia: “I Plan To Take Away Matthysse’s Power”

Published

11 years ago

August 8, 2013

UNIFIED SUPER LIGHTWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPION DANNY “SWIFT” GARCIA & HIS FATHER/TRAINER ANGEL GARCIA PHILADELPHIA MEDIA WORKOUT QUOTES

WBC, WBA Super and Ring Magazine Super Lightweight World Champion Danny Garcia

Faces WBC Interim Super Lightweight World Champion Lucas Matthysse

Saturday, Sept. 14 live on SHOWTIME^® PPV

PHILADELPHIA (Aug. 7, 2013) – Unified Super Lightweight World Champion Danny “Swift” Garcia and his father/trainer Angel Garcia (seen above, with Bernard Hopkins in Hogan Photos/GBP photo) opened their Philadelphia training camp for the media on Wednesday as they prepare for their upcoming showdown against power-punching Lucas “The Machine” Matthysse.

Garcia (26-0, 20 KO’s) will defend his WBC, WBA Super and Ring Magazine Super Lightweight World Titles against WBC Interim Super Lightweight World Champion Matthysse (34-2, 32 KO’s) in the 12-round co-featured bout of “THE ONE” MAYWEATHER VS. CANELO” on Saturday, Sept. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. The fight will be produced and televised live on SHOWTIME PPV^®.

Also joining the Garcia family at newly opened DSG Boxing Gym was boxing legend and Golden Boy Promotions Partner Bernard Hopkins .

Here’s what the participants had to say on Wednesday:

DANNY “SWIFT” GARCIA:

“This fight is very exciting for me. We are part of the biggest night in boxing and I will be ready. I feel like I was born for this – fighting at this level on the biggest stage in boxing.

“Every fight is important to me. I am training as I always do but I have a new gym so it is nice to be able to train in privacy. What better way to invest in my future in boxing than investing in my own gym. We built in the same neighborhood where my Dad grew up. We are Philly through and through. I love having my own gym.

“As for Matthysse, he has power but I have power, too. I fought a lot of guys with power. Trust me, I plan to take away his power, make him miss and make him pay.

“If he [Matthysse] opens up early to try to get me out of there, trust me, he’s making a big mistake. He tries that and the fight’s going to be over quickly!

“I’m not going to skip anything for this fight in training. I am going to work just as hard. I know what I have to do September 14, and I plan to do it the right way, the smart way.

“To me Matthysse is just a regular fighter. He already has two losses. I don’t consider him one of the best. He doesn’t even have a world title and when he fought for one,he lost. Let’s see what happens when I show him different looks, back him up, work angles. I can fight backing up. Can he?

“I thought his fight with [Zab] Judah was a close fight. I know I can’t make this a close fight. I am going to stick to my fight plan, give him different looks and be smart. I’m definitely not going to give him something easy. He’s going to have to earn anything he gets in the ring that night. Let’s see if he knows how to earn it.

“It doesn’t matter who’s stronger. It’s who’s smarter. I always find a way to win.

“I definitely learn every time I get in the ring. I learned a lot in the Judah fight. Things changed quickly but I was happy for the experience. It taught me a lot.

“I think this fight will give me a new level of respect. I feel that after this fight I am going to show people I am one of the best 140-pounders to ever put on a pair of gloves.”

ANGEL GARCIA:

“My job is not to worry about Matthysse. I am not worried. He doesn’t put fear in me. His coach doesn’t put fear in me. His people don’t put fear in me. His country doesn’t put fear in me. Nobody puts fear in me. The only one I fear is God.

“Nobody is beating us, not right now, not tomorrow and not in the future. Believe this, on September 14,Matthysse is going to get his ass whooped.

“Danny is the most underrated champion there is and I am the most underrated trainer. But it doesn’t matter to me. As long as I know and as long as Danny knows and we’re happy, then I don’t care what the world says.

“You can love me or hate me but it doesn’t matter. I believe in me and I believe in Danny. I always tell Danny that hard work and dedication pay the bills.

“I’m not going to look to Floyd Mayweather yet because we have Matthysse first. We are going to worry about Matthysse. Floyd has Canelo, so they have got to worry about each other.

“You never underestimate. Never, never, never take the cake and eat it before you light the candles. I’m not going to worry about Floyd. He has his own thing and Danny has his own thing. We are going to worry about Matthysse and September 14.

“The fans should be glad and happy for such a stacked main and co-main event on PPV. The fans should be happy and love all four of them. They shouldn’t hate one and love the others; they should love all of them. This is about the fans. The fans will get the benefit.

“Matthysse is going to lose September 14. We aren’t coming to lose. The best man will win and it’s going to be Danny.

“In the fight, I think Matthysse will come out, try to prove a point and try to get into Danny’s head as the killer. But he’s not a killer, he has nothing. He isn’t a killer.”

BERNARD HOPKINS:

“It’s important that this fight is happening. It’s happening at the right time. That is a really, really exciting event with a massive card that is bringing a lot of attention. And then you add Danny Garcia and Matthysse and it makes it even better.

“This is a fight that I see as 50/50. I get asked all the time in fights who I think is going to win and who I think has the better chin. This is a fight that is not going to go 12 rounds. And if it does go 12 rounds, I don’t think either fighter is going to be the same in whatever he does next. That’s how important this fight is to the fans but also in the careers of the two fighters.

“There are big things after this fight and the winner will finally be the undisputed champion in that division. Right now, I think it is Danny Garcia, who has three major titles. So he is, right now, the guy to beat at that weight division.

“I think this fight boils down to who has the better strategy, the better chin and who can adapt and change strategy in the course of the race. This is the type of fight where both fighters must be on top of their game. Danny’s weaknesses must be kept to a minimum. Matthysse’s weaknesses must be kept to a minimum.”

“THE ONE: MAYWEATHER VS. CANELO,” a 12-round fight for Canelo’s WBC, WBA and Ring Magazine Super Welterweight World Championships and Mayweather’s WBA Super Welterweight Super World Championship taking place Saturday, Sept. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, is promoted by Mayweather Promotions, Golden Boy Promotions and Canelo Promotions and sponsored by Corona, O’Reilly Auto Parts, AT&T, Valvoline, Mexico Tourism, Fred Loya Insurance and Nature Nutrition. In the 12-round co-featured attraction, WBC, WBA Super and Ring Magazine Super Lightweight World Champion Danny Garcia and thunderous punching WBC Interim Super Lightweight World Champion Lucas Matthysse square off in a fight presented in association with Swift Promotions and Arano Box Promotions. The mega-event will be produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. The event can be heard in Spanish using secondary audio programming (SAP).

Less than 24 hours after going on sale on June 25, the event was sold out, but six MGM Resorts properties will host live closed circuit telecasts of “THE ONE.” Properties showcasing the event include ARIA, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage, Monte Carlo and New York-New York. General admission tickets for the closed circuit telecasts are priced at $100, not including handling fees, and are available for purchase at each individual property’s box office outlets and also are available for purchase by phone with a major credit card at 866-799-7711. Closed circuit ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. Tickets also will be available through Ticketmaster by calling (800) 745-3000 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.

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2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

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Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

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2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

9 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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