Articles

Danny Garcia: “I Need A Knockout”

Published

10 years ago

July 31, 2014

DANNY GARCIA HOSTS PHILADELPHIA MEDIA WORKOUT BEFORE HIS AUGUST 9 FIGHT AGAINST ROD SALKA AT BARCLAYS CENTER IN BROOKLYN, NY LIVE ON SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING^®

PHILADELPHIA (July 30 2014) – Unified Super Lightweight World Champion Danny “Swift” Garcia opened up his DSG Boxing Gym in Philadelphia Wednesday for a media workout prior to his August 9 bout against “Lightning” Rod Salka at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY live on SHOWTIME.

Garcia, along with his father and trainer, Angel Garcia, spoke to the media about the upcoming bout and trained in front of the cameras. With fight night just over a week away, here is what the two had to say on Wednesday.

DANNY GARCIA, Unified Super Lightweight World Champion

“To me, it doesn’t matter, title fight or not, at the end of the day it’s my show and I’m going to put on a great performance for the fans.

“I can guarantee one thing, on August 9^th it’s going to be an exciting fight and people who don’t watch it are going to miss out.

“I always go for the knockout. I need a knockout. I haven’t had one since Morales back in Brooklyn so I’m definitely going for it.

“Everybody is entitled to their opinion. I can’t control what people are going to say. All I can do is say I’m going to in there August 9 and fight hard for my fans.

“I feel like every fight I’m in is always a big fight. There’s always excitement and the fans know what they’re going to see when they see Danny Garcia. They’re going to see blood, sweat and tears, they’re going to see power and excitement.

“Someone is going to get hurt and it isn’t going to be me.

“The last mandatory I knew I had was Lucas Matthysse, as far as the rankings though, I don’t really pay attention to that.

“I always have something to prove. Either I’m fighting someone who I’m not supposed to beat and no one believes in me, or I’m fighting someone I’m supposed to beat and if they fight well I can’t win anyway.

“No matter how I win, I believe August 9is going to be a great show. Brooklyn has a great atmosphere for fights.

“Both Salka and Herrera move a little bit, they’re about the same height so there are some similarities. I was focused last time but I made a lot of mistakes. I’m not making any mistakes this time, you’re going to see Danny Garcia on my A-game.

“We’re more focused as a team this camp and more disciplined. We’re doing everything right. There’s a lot of chemistry, I’ve sparred over 100 rounds already and we’re prepared.

“When I fought Salka last I had just come back from U.S. championships, and I had faced so many fighters, the main thing I remember is that I won. The only other thing I remember is being aggressive and trying to walk him down.

“My dad is fired up, he’s been classic Angel Garcia. He was more quiet last fight, but he’s back now. I’m calling August 9 “The Purge” because team Garcia is going to purge the Barclays Center.

ANGEL GARCIA, Danny’s Father and Trainer

“Of course we’ll bring the belts to the fight, have to bring the hardware. I wasn’t disappointed about it not being a title fight, there’s nothing we can do. Everybody has a job, I’m here to train Danny and he’s here to fight.

“I don’t really watch tape. That’s old thinking. I watched the fight just to get the doubt about the last fight out of my head but that’s just from the media. They made it seem like Herrera destroyed Danny but I didn’t see it like that.

“What happens when you get all this negativity in the media about a performance, the next person you’re going to fight feels the consequences. Salka is in a predicament right now. He’s in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“To me, Salka is going to come 100 percent, fighting an undefeated guy. He’s going to want to get that reputation, but I’m not worried about him. I’m worried about Danny and I know he’s going to be ready.

“We’re ready for anybody, when Danny goes up to 147 he’s going to take them all down too. I don’t care who the killers are, I don’t care who’s the pretty guy, I don’t care about none of them. When we come to 147 we’re dominating.

ABOUT “GARCIA VS. SALKA”:

Garcia vs. Salka, a 10-round welterweight bout on Saturday, August 9, is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and sponsored by Corona and AT&T. In the co-main event, promoted by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Dibella Entertainment, IBF Junior Welterweight World Champion Lamont Peterson puts his title on the line against Edgar Santana in a 12-round championship bout. Opening the telecast, promoted by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Greg Cohen Promotions, Brooklyn’s own Daniel Jacobs takes on Jarrod Fletcher for the vacant WBA Middleweight World Title. The event will take place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, will air live on SHOWTIME (9 p.m. ET/PT) and will be available in Spanish via secondary audio programming (SAP).

Tickets priced at $250, $125, $75, $50 and $25, plus applicable taxes and service charges are on sale now and are available for purchase at www.barclayscenter.com, www.ticketmaster.com, all Ticketmaster locations, by calling 800-745-3000 and at the American Express Box Office. For group tickets, please call 800-GROUP-BK.

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The Sweet Science

Articles

2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

8 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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Articles

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

Published

8 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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Articles

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

Published

8 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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