Team DSG: Beyond the Boxing Ring

Published

8 years ago

March 1, 2017

THE DANNY GARCIA STORY BY SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT LUIS CORTES III – “Success is one thing, impact is another,” is a quote attributed to former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis. These words spoken by the greatest inside linebacker in NFL history give a clearer insight to the story between current WBC welterweight champion Danny Garcia and the community where he was born and raised: North Philadelphia.

While North Philadelphia is home to several urban neighborhoods with different demographic makeups, it is the predominantly Latino Kensington section where Team DSG (Danny “Swift” Garcia) originates from. It’s where their humble beginnings as a family have shaped both the man and the champion that Danny Garcia has become. As one looks closer at this tale one begins to take notice that this story runs deep for all of the players involved. – a tight- knit family, team, and community. Team DSG has become proof that success and a positive impact are indeed possible if you hail from Kensington.

Garcia fights Keith Thurman on CBS this Saturday. It’s customary that during the continuous promotion for a fight of this magnitude that fans are treated to an in-depth look at the back story of the combatants — what shapes them as men, which in turn tells us why they fight in the fashion that they do. In the case of Garcia, his family’s struggles have been the focus: Having a father (Angel Garcia) that lived a “gangster” lifestyle that included narcotics distribution that resulted in his incarceration. Trying to survive with his mother and siblings in a rough community while his father served his time. Garcia’s reconnection with his father, upon his father’s release from prison. Starting his boxing training at the tender age of ten and realizing early through the guidance of his father and trainer that this sport is serious business. To understand at an early age that in order to be successful and fulfill his dreams, dedication to the craft ruled supreme over every other aspect of life.

Which brings this tale to the role played by the aforementioned neighborhood, Kensington, a neighborhood that was omnipresent in the lives of the Garcia family. During the 90’s, when Garcia was a child, Kensington was best known for being home to many drug addicts and dealers. Crack cocaine hit this working class neighborhood hard. As a result, all of the social ills that come with the drug culture plagued the streets. Unfortunately that is something that still is the case within the confines of the Kensington neighborhood. Currently it is the heroin epidemic that has its tight grip on many members of the community.

Success is defined as being able to accomplish an aim or goal. In the case of many that call Kensington home, success is being able to avoid the awful pitfalls to which many succumb. So for Garcia making it through his adolescence alive is success in itself. Garcia took what many may think is a small example of success and parlayed it with staying focused on his goal of becoming a professional prizefighter. He was able to do this by having several interests aside from the boxing gym. While the pugilistic art form has always been his primary focus, he spent many hours as the local barber for his friends and family. A love for music and playing around with Hip Hop music was also strong and consumed his time as an escape from both boxing and the neighborhood. Garcia continued this formula throughout a successful amateur career that reached its crescent when he was named an alternate on the 2008 US Olympic boxing team.

So it shouldn’t be a surprise when Team DSG purchased a building on a plot of land right outside of Kensington in the Juniata Park section of the city. What followed was the creation of a home base or corporate headquarters for all things Danny Garcia. Upon visiting the complex recently, I got the feeling that Garcia fully understands that while he is a two division champion and in the prime of his career at just 28 years of age, his time inside the ring will not go on forever. He has positioned himself for life after boxing as a brand that is dubbed DSG.

The DSG complex is home to a beautiful barbershop, a private recording studio for his friends and twin sisters (who are singers), a detailing and minor repair body shop, a full time apparel store (set to open soon) and, of course, his own boxing gym. Another form of success and impact is that with all of these business ventures it means one thing for the community: jobs. His barber shop has nine full time barbers.”Danny has set the bar so high, he has my respect and everyone’s in here.” states Haz, the manager of his barber shop. “The gym is open to the public daily, when he is not training for a fight.” This means that many of the youth from the same neighborhood that he once called home can find their solace from the streets at the DSG gym — much in the same way that Garcia did at the Harrowgate boxing gym years ago.

Danny Garcia’s impact on the sport of boxing goes beyond his accomplishments inside the ring. Already a two division champion, a victory on Saturday against Keith Thurman will make him the recognized lineal champion at welterweight. As the first Latino champion in the rich history of boxing in Philadelphia, Garcia is on pace to becoming the best Puerto Rican fighter from mainland United States in history.

If you take a look at the list of all the Puerto Rican title holders, ten names pop off the list in a special way, while four are in a class of their own. Seven of these ten fighters, while born in Puerto Rico, moved to the mainland at an early age and called boxing gyms in the United States home, mostly in New York City. These boxers include Jose Torres, Carlos Ortiz, Eric Morel, Kermit Cintron and, of course, Hector Camacho.

Wilfred Benitez was born in New York and learned to box in gyms throughout the city. However as a professional he spent a huge portion of his time on the island. Currently Benitez has the distinction of being the best Puerto Rican fighter from mainland Unites States. Luis Collazo, also from New York and Jason Sosa from Camden, New Jersey are also on the list with Danny Garcia. It is a small list, but one that should continue to grow.

“For me, Danny is already the best Puerto Rican fighter from mainland U.S.A in history, no matter whatever happens in his career from here on out” quips Haz. Matthew Urrutia, who runs a local bar just minutes away from the DSG complex, loves what he sees happening. “Since his fight against Khan, every time Danny fights we get big crowds. It’s crazy cause these crowds have positive vibes. Everyone is together pulling for him to get the win, cause he represents Puerto Ricans from Philadelphia.” Urrutia brought up a solid point when he stated the following. “Is Oscar De La Hoya less Mexican cause he was from L.A? No, he isn’t.” What is happening on the east coast regarding mainland Puerto Rican fighters is similar to what has happened out west with Mexican-American fighters from states like California, Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico. New York, now Pennsylvania and New Jersey, are on the list of states with Puerto Rican champions from the mainland.

You get the sense that even a state like Florida, the home of Keith Thurman, is going to be added to that list in no time. Puerto Ricans are set to overtake Cuban-Americans as the largest Latino demographic in Florida in the near future. “To say that there are currently no real Puerto Rican champions because there isn’t one from the island is just disrespectful.” says Urrutia. “Here is the rub. I’m not even a big fight fan, but I like Roman Gonzalez cause my father is from Nicaragua. I support Danny though, cause he is from Philly and most of my customers are Rican.”

Impact can be a fickle thing. For all the things one can do to positively affect people and a certain place, all of that can be neglected by people outside of your community if the only thing people hear about regarding you or the members of your team is a negative that occurs from a mistake. This seems to be the case with what occurred at the well documented Garcia-Thurman pre-fight press conference in January. (The situation has already been discussed at length, so I won’t hash over the details.)

To his credit, Angel Garcia has gone on record stating that he shouldn’t have said what he did. But if you’re from an area like Kensington in a city like Philadelphia where, as mentioned before, success is something as fragile as staying alive, then when you feel as though you are being disrespected by someone, you strike back. Many times it’s an issue of survival. However what Angel said can’t be excused despite the forum in which it was used.

Moving forward, Danny Garcia is on the cusp of super stardom — something he and his team have to be aware of as they continue with the remaining portion of Danny’s career. With a vacancy on the short list of stars that carry the sport into the future, a victory on Saturday night can go a long way for Team DSG to fill that void. “My wish is that he wins and hopefully fights Cotto. If Chavez and Canelo can fight to see who is the best Mexican, why can’t Cotto and Garcia fight to see who the best Rican is? Plus, it will mean big business for me,” says Urrutia.

Whatever the future holds for Danny “Swift” Garcia,, this much is certain: He is a true success to have made it out of the conditions that he faced as a child growing up in a place like Kensington. His impact on the community can’t be denied and his impact on the sport he loves may be just getting started. Maybe these simple few words from Haz sum it up the best: “Danny’s type of success story doesn’t happen every day, especially when you’re from where he is.”

Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing Channel.

Post Views: 2,706

Share The Sweet Science experience!

The Sweet Science

Up Next

Bombs Away for David Lemieux and Curtis Stevens

Don't Miss

Being Julio Cesar Chavez Sr.’s Son is a Blessing, But also a Burden

History has Shortchanged Freddie Dawson, One of the Best Boxers of his Era

Published

1 day ago

April 2, 2025

Arne K. Lang

History has Shortchanged Freddie Dawson, One of the Best Boxers of his Era

This reporter was rummaging around the internet last week when he stumbled on a story in the May 1950 issue of Ebony under the byline of Mike Jacobs. Boxing was then in the doldrums (isn’t it always?) and Jacobs, the most powerful promoter in boxing during the era of Joe Louis, was lassoed by the editors of the magazine to address the question of whether the over-representation of black boxers was killing the sport at the box office.

This hoary premise had been kicking around even before the heyday of Jack Johnson, bubbling forth whenever an important black-on-black fight played to a sea of empty seats as had happened the previous year when Chicago’s Comiskey Park hosted the world heavyweight title fight between Ezzard Charles and Jersey Joe Walcott.

Jacobs ridiculed the hypothesis – as one could have expected considering the publication in which the story ran – and singled out three “colored” boxers as the best of the current crop of active pugilists: Sugar Ray Robinson, Ike Williams, and Freddie Dawson.

Sugar Ray Robinson? A no-brainer. Skill-wise the greatest of the great. Even those that didn’t follow boxing, would have recognized his name. Ike Williams? Nowhere near as well-known as Robinson, but he was then the reigning lightweight champion, a man destined to go into the International Boxing Hall of Fame with the inaugural class of 1990.

And Freddie Dawson? If the name doesn’t ring a bell, dear reader, you are not alone. I confess that I too drew a blank. And that triggered a search to learn more about him.

Freddie Dawson had four fights with Ike Williams. All four were staged on Ike’s turf in Philadelphia. Were this not the case, the history books would likely show the series knotted 2-2. Late in his career, Dawson became greatly admired in Australia. But we are jumping ahead of ourselves.

Dawson was born in 1924 in Thomasville, Arkansas, an unincorporated town in the Arkansas Delta. Likely a descendent of slaves who worked in the cotton plantations, he grew up in the so-called Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, the heart of Chicago’s Black Belt.

The first mention of him in the newspapers came in 1941 when he won Chicago’s Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) featherweight title. In those days, amateur boxing was big in the Windy City, the birthplace of the Golden Gloves. The Catholic Archdiocese, which ran gyms in every parish, and the Chicago Parks Department, were the major incubators.

In his amateur days, he was known as simply Fred Dawson. As a pro, his name often appeared as Freddy Dawson, although Freddie gradually became the more common spelling.

Dawson, who stood five-foot-six and was often described as stocky, made his pro debut on Feb. 1, 1943, at Marigold Gardens. Before the year was out, he had 16 fights under his belt, all in Chicago and all but two at Marigold. (Currently the site of an interdenominational Christian church, Marigold Gardens, on the city’s north side, was Chicago’s most active boxing and wrestling arena from the mid-1930s through the early-1950s. Joe Louis had three of his early fights there and Tony Zale was a fixture there as he climbed the ladder to the world middleweight title.)

The last of these 16 fights was fatal for Dawson’s opponent who collapsed heading back to his corner after the fight was stopped in the 10^th round and died that night at a local hospital from the effects of a brain injury.

Dawson left town after this incident and spent most of the next year in New Orleans where energetic promoter Louis Messina ran twice-weekly shows (Mondays for whites and Fridays for blacks) at the Coliseum, a major stop on boxing’s so-called Chitlin’ Circuit.

That same year, on Sept. 19, 1944, Dawson had his first encounter with Ike Williams. He was winning the fight when Ike knocked him out with a body punch in the fourth round.

The first and last meetings between Dawson and Ike Williams were spaced five years apart. In the interim, Freddie scored his two best wins, stopping Vic Patrick in the twelfth round at Sydney, NSW, and Bernard Docusen in the sixth round in Chicago.

The long-reigning lightweight champion of Australia, Patrick (49-3, 43 KOs) gave the crowd a thrill when he knocked Dawson down for a count of “six” in the penultimate 11^th round, but Dawson returned the favor twice in the final stanza, ending the contest with a punch so harsh that the poor Aussie needed five minutes before he was fit to leave the ring and would spend the night in the hospital as a precaution.

Dawson fought Bernard Docusen before 10,000-plus at Chicago Stadium on Feb. 4, 1949. An 8/5 favorite, Docusen lacked a hard punch, but the New Orleans cutie had suffered only three losses in 66 fights, had never been stopped, and had extended Sugar Ray Robinson the 15-round distance the previous year.

Dawson dismantled him. Docusen managed to get back on his feet after Dawson knocked him down in the sixth, but he was in no condition to continue and the referee waived the fight off. Dawson was then vacillating between the lightweight and welterweight divisions and reporters wondered whether it would be Robinson or Ike Williams when Dawson finally got his well-earned title shot.

Sugar Ray wasn’t in his future. Here are the results of his other matches with Ike Williams:

Dawson-Williams II (Jan. 28, 1946) – The consensus on press row was 7-2-1 or 7-3 for Dawson, but the match was ruled a draw. “[The judges and referee] evidently saw [Williams] land punches that nobody else did,” said the ringside reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Dawson-Williams III (Jan. 26, 1948) – Dawson lost a majority decision. The scores were 6-4, 5-4-1, and 4-4-2. The decision was booed. Ike Williams then held the lightweight title, but this was a non-title fight. (It was tough for an outsider to get a fair shake in Philadelphia, home to Ike Williams’ co-manager Frank “Blinky” Palermo who would go to prison for his duplicitous dealings as a fight facilitator.)

Dawson-Williams IV (Dec. 5, 1949) – This would be Freddie Dawson’s only crack at a world title and he came up short. Ike Williams retained the belt, winning a unanimous decision. The fight was close – 8-7, 8-7, 9-6 – but there was no controversy.

Dawson made three more trips to Australia before his career was finished. On the first of these trips, he knocked out Jack Hassen, successor to Vic Patrick as the lightweight champion of Australia. A 1953 article in the Sydney Sunday Herald bore witness to the esteem in which Dawson was held by boxing fans in Australia: “None of our boxers could withstand his devastating attacks which not only knocked them out but also knocked years off their careers,” said the author. “It is doubtful whether any Australian boxer in any division could have beaten Dawson.”

Dawson had his final fights in the Land Down Under, finishing his career with a record of 103-14-4 while answering the bell for 962 rounds. Following what became his final fight, he had an eye operation in Sydney that was reportedly so intricate that it required a two-week hospital stay. He injured the eye again in Manila while sparring in preparation for a match with the welterweight champion of the Philippines, a match that had to be aborted because of the injury. Dawson then disappeared, by which we mean that he disappeared from the pages of the newspaper archives that allow us to construct these kinds of stories.

What about Freddie Dawson the man? A 1944 story about him said he was an outstanding all-around athlete, “a champion in all athletic undertakings – basketball, baseball, track and even jitterbugging.” A story in a Sydney paper as he was preparing to meet Vic Patrick informs us that he had two young children, ages 2 and 1, owned his own home in Chicago, and drove a two-year-old Cadillac. But beyond these flimsy snippets, Dawson the man remains elusive.

What we learned, however, is that he was one of the most underrated boxers to come down the pike in any era, a borderline Hall of Famer who ought not have fallen through the cracks. Inside the ring, this guy was one tough hombre.

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 818

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Ringside at the Fontainebleau where Mikaela Mayer Won her Rematch with Sandy Ryan

Published

5 days ago

March 30, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Ringside-at-the-Fontainebleau-where-Mikaela-Mayer-won-her-Rematch-with-Sandy-Ryan

LAS VEGAS, NV — The first meeting between Mikaela Mayer and Sandy Ryan last September at Madison Square Garden was punctuated with drama before the first punch was thrown. When the smoke cleared, Mayer had become a world-title-holder in a second weight class, taking away Ryan’s WBO welterweight belt via a majority decision in a fan-friendly fight.

The rematch tonight at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas was another fan-friendly fight. There were furious exchanges in several rounds and the crowd awarded both gladiators a standing ovation at the finish.

Mayer dominated the first half of the fight and held on to win by a unanimous decision. But Sandy Ryan came on strong beginning in round seven, and although Mayer was the deserving winner, the scores favoring her (98-92 and 97-93 twice) fail to reflect the competitiveness of the match-up. This is the best rivalry in women’s boxing aside from Taylor-Serrano.

Mayer, 34, improved to 21-2 (5). Up next, she hopes, in a unification fight with Lauren Price who outclassed Natasha Jonas earlier this month and currently holds the other meaningful pieces of the 147-pound puzzle. Sandy Ryan, 31, the pride of Derby, England, falls to 7-3-1.

Co-Feature

In his first defense of his WBO world welterweight title (acquired with a brutal knockout of Giovani Santillan after the title was vacated by Terence Crawford), Atlanta’s Brian Norman Jr knocked out Puerto Rico’s Derrieck Cuevas in the third round. A three-punch combination climaxed by a short left hook sent Cuevas staggering into a corner post. He got to his feet before referee Thomas Taylor started the count, but Taylor looked in Cuevas’s eyes and didn’t like what he saw and brought the bout to a halt.

The stoppage, which struck some as premature, came with one second remaining in the third stanza.

A second-generation prizefighter (his father was a fringe contender at super middleweight), the 24-year-old Norman (27-0, 21 KOs) is currently boxing’s youngest male title-holder. It was only the second pro loss for Cuevas (27-2-1) whose lone previous defeat had come early in his career in a 6-rounder he lost by split decision.

Other Bouts

In a career-best performance, 27-year-old Brooklyn featherweight Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington (15-0, 9 KOs) blasted out Jose Enrique Vivas (23-4) in the third round.

Carrington, who was named the Most Outstanding Boxer at the 2019 U.S. Olympic Trials despite being the lowest-seeded boxer in his weight class, decked Vivas with a right-left combination near the end of the second round. Vivas barely survived the round and was on a short leash when the third stanza began. After 53 seconds of round three, referee Raul Caiz Jr had seen enough and waived it off. Vivas hadn’t previously been stopped.

Cleveland welterweight Tiger Johnson, a Tokyo Olympian, scored a fifth-round stoppage over San Antonio’s Kendo Castaneda. Johnson assumed control in the fourth round and sent Castaneda to his knees twice with body punches in the next frame. The second knockdown terminated the match. The official time was 2:00 of round five.

Johnson advanced to 15-0 (7 KOs). Castenada declined to 21-9.

Las Vegas junior welterweight Emiliano Vargas (13-0, 11 KOs) blasted out Stockton, California’s Giovanni Gonzalez in the second round. Vargas brought the bout to a sudden conclusion with a sweeping left hook that knocked Gonzalez out cold. The end came at the 2:00 minute mark of round two.

Gonzalez brought a 20-7-2 record which was misleading as 18 of his fights were in Tijuana where fights are frequently prearranged. However, he wasn’t afraid to trade with Vargas and paid the price.

Emiliano Vargas, with his matinee idol good looks and his boxing pedigree – he is the son of former U.S. Olympian and two-weight world title-holder “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas – is highly marketable and has the potential to be a cross-over star.

Eighteen-year-old Newark bantamweight Emmanuel “Manny” Chance, one of Top Rank’s newest signees, won his pro debut with a four-round decision over So Cal’s Miguel Guzman. Chance won all four rounds on all three cards, but this was no runaway. He left a lot of room for improvement.

There was a long intermission before the co-main and again before the main event, but the tedium was assuaged by a moving video tribute to George Foreman.

Photos credit: Al Applerose

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 2,101

Share The Sweet Science experience!

William Zepeda Edges Past Tevin Farmer in Cancun; Improves to 34-0

Published

5 days ago

March 29, 2025

David A. Avila

William Zepeda Edges Past Tevin Farmer in Cancun; Improves to 34-0

No surprise, once again William Zepeda eked out a win over the clever and resilient Tevin Farmer to remain undefeated and retain a regional lightweight title on Saturday.

There were no knockdowns in this rematch.

The Mexican punching machine Zepeda (33-0, 17 KOs) once more sought to overwhelm Farmer (33-8-1, 9 KOs) with a deluge of blows. This rematch by Golden Boy Promotions took place in the famous beach resort area of Cancun, Mexico.

It was a mere four months ago that both first clashed in Saudi Arabia with their vastly difference styles. This time the tropical setting served as the background which suited Zepeda and his lawnmower assaults. The Mexican fans were pleased.

Nothing changed in their second meeting.

Zepeda revved up the body assault and Farmer moved around casually to his right while fending off the Mexican fighter’s attacks. By the fourth round Zepeda was able to cut off Farmer’s escape routes and targeted the body with punishing shots.

The blows came in bunches.

In the fifth round Zepeda blasted away at Farmer who looked frantic for an escape. The body assault continued with the Mexican fighter pouring it on and Farmer seeming to look ready to quit. When the round ended, he waved off his corner’s appeals to stop.

Zepeda continued to dominate the next few rounds and then Farmer began rallying. At first, he cleverly smothered Zepeda’s body attacks and then began moving and hitting sporadically. It forced the Mexican fighter to pause and figure out the strategy.

Farmer, a Philadelphia fighter, showed resiliency especially when it was revealed he had suffered a hand injury.

During the last three rounds Farmer dug down deep and found ways to score and not get hit. It was Boxing 101 and the Philly fighter made it work.

But too many rounds had been put in the bank by Zepeda. Despite the late rally by Farmer one judge saw it 114-114, but two others scored it 116-112 and 115-113 for Zepeda who retains his interim lightweight title and place at the top of the WBC rankings.

“I knew he was a difficult fighter. This time he was even more difficult,” said Zepeda.

Farmer was downtrodden about another loss but realistic about the outcome and starting slow.

“But I dominated the last rounds,” said Farmer.

Zepeda shrugged at the similar outcome as their first encounter.

“I’m glad we both put on a great show,” said Zepeda.

Female Flyweight Battle

Costa Rica’s Yokasta Valle edged past Texas fighter Marlen Esparza to win their showdown at flyweight by split decision after 10 rounds.

Valle moved up two weight divisions to meet Esparza who was slightly above the weight limit. Both showed off their contrasting styles and world class talent.

Esparza, a former unified flyweight world titlist, stayed in the pocket and was largely successful with well-placed jabs and left hooks. She repeatedly caught Valle in-between her flurries.

The current minimumweight world titlist changed tactics and found more success in the second half of the fight. She forced Esparza to make the first moves and that forced changes that benefited her style.

Neither fighter could take over the fight.

After 10 rounds one judge saw Esparza the winner 96-94, but two others saw Valle the winner 97-93 twice.

Will Valle move up and challenge the current undisputed flyweight world champion Gabriela Fundora? That’s the question.

Valle currently holds the WBC minimumweight world title.

Puerto Rico vs Mexico

Oscar Collazo (12-0, 9 KOs), the WBO, WBA minimumweight titlist, knocked out Mexico’s Edwin Cano (13-3-1, 4 KOs) with a flurry of body shots at 1:12 of the fifth round.

Collazo dominated with a relentless body attack the Mexican fighter could not defend. It was the Puerto Rican fighter’s fifth consecutive title defense.

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 1,742

Share The Sweet Science experience!