Danny Garcia’s Continuing Boxing Quest Began as a Kid With His First Trophy

It began for Danny “Swift” Garcia, as it does for many, with the presentation of a small, inexpensive trophy. He was 11 years old then

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Published

6 years ago

September 5, 2018

Bernard Fernandez

It began for Danny “Swift” Garcia, as it does for many, with the presentation of a small, inexpensive trophy. He was 11 years old then, a kid of Puerto Rican heritage from a Philadelphia neighborhood full of them who wanted to take possession of something, anything, that would make him feel as if he might actually turn out to be someone special.

“Winning my first trophy motivated me to keep fighting,” said the three-time former world champion, now fully grown at 30 but still seeking objects, like another bejeweled belt, to validate himself as he prepared for Saturday night’s Showtime-televised confrontation with another former world champ, Shawn Porter, for the vacant WBC welterweight title at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. “I wanted more trophies. All my friends had trophies – football trophies, basketball trophies. I never had no trophies. So I was, like, `Damn, I need some trophies.’

“Then I went from one trophy to 20 trophies to 50 trophies and maybe 40 medals. I was traveling around the world. I had never even gotten on an airplane until I traveled for boxing. My first time to ever get on an airplane, I was going to Kansas City for the Silver Gloves. That alone was like a dream come true.”

It has been said that boys with toys strive to continually achieve because enough is never enough. There is a television commercial now airing for a luxury car favored by successful people who have been upgrading their rides since furiously pedaling their first bicycle. And so it is for Garcia (34-1, 20 KOs) and, one might presume, Porter (28-2-1, 17 KOs), another 30-year-old from Las Vegas, by way of his native Akron, Ohio, who took pride in his first childhood trophy and has been obsessively adding to his collection ever since.

Garcia and Porter are both trained by their fathers, longtime boxing guys who correctly figured that all it took was a little encouragement at the right time to make their sons become as infatuated with the sport as they were.

“It’s not about the money at that age,” Angel Garcia said last week at the DSG Gym in the Juniata Park section of Philly before putting Danny through his training paces. “It’s about that little trophy.”

But the money is a pretty strong incentive as a fighter becomes older and has the financial wherewithal to enjoy the fruits of his labors. The Garcias, now men of property, own a block of businesses in their neighborhood and are wealthier than they ever could have imagined when a beaming Danny brought home that first little trophy. Not that he’s Floyd Mayweather Jr.-rich, but, as with the case with drivers of that luxury car featured in the commercial, enough is never really enough, not when a fighter still has the talent and, well, drive to keep pushing to take full advantage of his physical gifts before they inevitably begin to wane.

“My goal,” Danny told a media assembly, “is to get this belt, have another big unification fight at 147 and then I want to go up to 154 and win a title in a third weight class.”

It that continual quest for more – more money, more fame, more glory, more embellishments of a legacy still under construction – that spur Garcia onward now. He can afford to take a longer view, to a time when all the hard work will have paid off in a manner that supersedes anything that went before.

How about an appearance on the stage of the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, N.Y., where a then-retired Danny Garcia will be giving an acceptance speech that will officially certify him as a boxing legend?

“That’s my ultimate goal,” he said. “I visited there once, before I fought in a Golden Gloves tournament. It would definitely be another dream come true. I think this fight puts me that much closer.”

But the road from that first little trophy to now, even with all he has gained for himself to this point, can seem like a short skip and a hop compared to the heavy lifting that still must be done on the obstacle-strewn trail from now to what passes for ring immortality. The great middleweight champion Marvin Hagler once observed that it’s difficult for a rich and accomplished fighter to get up before dawn to put in his roadwork when he goes to bed wearing silk pajamas. Garcia understands that rationale, although, as he wryly noted, “I don’t wear pajamas.”

“Some days I wake up and I say, `I want to do this,’” he said of the rigors of training. “Other days I wake up and I say, `I don’t feel like doing this.’ It all depends on how I wake up that day. But I always find a new motivation, a new goal. Whenever I feel that I no longer have the passion for it and don’t want to work hard and push myself to go in a hot gym, that’ll be when I stop.”

For Garcia – and his pop, too – fresh motivation arrived in an XXXL-sized package after Danny relinquished his WBC welterweight title on a split decision in a unification matchup with WBA champ Keith Thurman on March 4, 2017. Not only was it the first professional defeat for Garcia, it was also the first time he no longer could call himself a world champion since he won the vacant WBC super lightweight title on March 24, 2012, with a unanimous decision over Mexican standout Erik Morales – who, incidentally, was inducted into the IBHOF earlier this summer. It was as if Garcia had lost the most cherished part of his identity, or a thief in the night had entered his home and scooped up all mementos of his boxing successes, even that first little trophy.

“It was tough,” he said of his frame of mind after the loss to Thurman. “I’d be lying if I told you it didn’t affect me a little bit. But I have the mind of a winner. Waking up that day, I thought I was going to be unified champ of the world, WBC and WBA. I was real confident when it came to scorecards that I was going to win the fight because I finished strong. I pushed the fight and I thought I won by a point or two. But it didn’t go my way.”

For the always-excitable Angel, it wasn’t so much disappointment as anger. He is convinced that his son – who, truth be told, had won a couple of fights that were close enough to have conceivably gone the other way – was the victim of poor judgment or, worse, bias.

“I ain’t gonna lie, I couldn’t sleep,” he said of the restless nights for him that followed the Thurman fight. “We had lost before, in the amateurs, but it was the amateurs. You brush it off and keep it rolling. But that fight … I felt crushed. I felt betrayed by the politics of it. People don’t know the business that went on with the (New York) commission. I was messed up for months. I wanted a rematch the next day. We still want Thurman. We gotta give him an `L,’ man. And I want Danny to give him his first loss.”

Settling the score with Thurman is also objective No. 1 for the younger Garcia, but it might be an even more indeterminable wait than it already has been. Thurman has not fought since his close victory over Garcia, in which he suffered an injury to his right elbow that required surgery. When he was able to get back to the gym he sustained another injury, a deep bruise to his left hand, lengthening his layoff and prompting him to voluntarily relinquish the WBC version of his title, which the winner of the Garcia-Porter bout will claim.

Even without a do-over with Thurman to keep his competitive juices flowing, Garcia has rekindled the inner fire that began with the spark of his first little trophy. He returned to action on Feb. 17 of this year when he stopped former WBA lightweight and WBO welterweight titlist Brandon” Bam Bam” Rios in nine rounds in Las Vegas, after which Porter entered the ring and challenged him to the fight that is about to take place this weekend. If Thurman is unavailable at the moment, Porter makes a dandy substitute. To knock out an opponent who never has been stopped would be an added bonus.

“You never want to leave anything in the hands of the judges,” Garcia said. “To go in there and stop (Porter), it would definitely feel great. I’ve stopped a lot of guys for the first time in their career. So (if I do it), it wouldn’t be the first time, and it won’t be the last.”

Interestingly, the specter of Thurman – who retained his WBA welterweight championship with a close but unanimous decision over Porter on June 25, 2016 – lingers over this pairing of his onetime victims like a low-hanging cloud. Asked for his thoughts on Garcia-Porter, Thurman opined that the slightly favored Garcia has the edge in power, defense and boxing ability, but he isn’t sure that’s enough in what he terms “one of the best matchups of the year.”

“I try not to overthink it,” Thurman said. “It’s Porter by decision or Garcia only by KO. I lean toward Porter.”

Little wonder that Garcia, in or out of pajamas, has been getting up early to put in the work necessary to reclaim what was once his. There is always another trophy to be won, another chance to announce himself to the world as someone special. When the guy in the other corner feels the same way, something remarkable tends to happen.

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Bernard Fernandez

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 289: East LA, Claressa Shields and More

Published

1 day ago

July 25, 2024

David A. Avila

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 289: East LA, Claressa Shields and More

East Los Angeles has long been a haven for some of the best fighters around if you can keep them out of trouble. For every Oscar De La Hoya or Seniesa Estrada there are thousands derailed by crime, drugs or drinking.

Boxing has always been a favorite sport of East L.A. Every family has an uncle or two who boxes.

On Friday, 360 Promotions’ Omar Trinidad (15-0-1) fights Viktor Slavinskyi (15-2-1) in the main event at Commerce Casino, in Commerce, CA. UFC Fight Pass will stream the fight card.

The City of Commerce used to be part of East L.A. until 1960 when it incorporated. It’s still considered to be part of East Los Angeles, but informally.

Plenty of fighters come out of East L.A. but few make it all the way like De La Hoya and Estrada. Will Trinidad be the one?

The first world champion from East L.A. or “East Los” as some call it, was Solly Garcia Smith back in the late 1800s. Others were Richie Lemos, Art Frias and Joey Olivo. There is also 1984 Olympic gold medalist Paul Gonzalez.

Once again 360 Promotions brings its popular brand of fights to the area. On this fight card includes two female bouts. One features Roxy Verduzco (1-0) the former amateur star fighting Colleen Davis (3-1-1) in a featherweight fight.

All that action takes place on Friday.

Elite Boxing

The next day, also in East L.A., Elite Boxing stages another boxing card at Salesian High School located at 960 S. Soto Street in the Boyle Heights area of East Los Angeles.

Elite Boxing has promoted several successful boxing cards at the Catholic high school grounds. The area is saturated by many of the best eateries in Los Angeles. Don’t take my word for it. Check it out yourself and grab some of that delicious food.

Boxing has long been a favorite sport of anyone who lives in East L.A. It’s a fight town equal to Philadelphia, Brooklyn or Detroit. There’s something different about the area. For more than 100 years some of the best fighters continue to come out of its boxing gyms. Some will be performing on these club shows.

For tickets or information go to www.eliteboxingusa.com

Claressa Shields in Detroit

Speaking of fight towns, pound-for-pound best Claressa Shields who won two Olympic Gold Medals in boxing, moves up another weight division to tackle the WBC heavyweight world champion Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse on Saturday, July 27, at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.

DAZN will stream the heavy-duty fight card.

Shields (14-0) cleaned out the super welterweight, middleweight and super middleweight divisions and now wants to add the big girls to her conquests. She will be facing Canada’s Lepage-Joanisse (7-1) who holds the WBC belt.

The last time Shields gloved up was more than a year ago when she fought Maricela Cornejo. Don’t blame Shields. She loves to fight. She loves to win. The last time Shields lost a fight was in the amateurs and that was three presidential administrations ago.

Shields doesn’t lose.

I wonder if Las Vegas even takes bets on her fights?

The only fight she may have been an underdog was against Savannah Marshall who was the last opponent to defeat her. And that was in 2012 in China. When they met as pros two years ago, Shields avenged her loss with a blistering attack.

Don’t get Shields mad.

Perhaps her toughest foe as a pro was in her pro debut when she clashed with Franchon Crews-Dezurn in Las Vegas. It was four rounds of fists and fury as the two pounded each other on the undercard of Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev in November 2016.

That was a ferocious debut for both female pugilists.

Assisting Shields on this fight card will be several intriguing male bouts. One guy you should pay special attention is Tito Mercado (15-0, 14 KOs) a super lightweight prospect from Pomona, California.

Many excellent fighters have come out of Pomona including Sugar Shane Mosley, Shane Mosley Jr., Alberto Davila and Richie Sandoval who just passed away this week.

Sandoval was best known for his 15-round war with Philadelphia’s Jeff Chandler for the bantamweight world title in 1984. Read the story by Arne K. Lang on this link: https://tss.ib.tv/boxing/featured-boxing-articles-boxing-news-videos-rankings-and-results/81467-former-world-bantamweight-champion-richie-sandoval-passes-away-at-age-63 .

Fights to Watch

Fri. UFC Fight Pass 7 p.m. Omar Trinidad (15-0-1) vs Viktor Slavinskyi (15-2-1).

Sat. ESPN+ 12:30 p.m. Joe Joyce (16-2) vs Derek Chisora (34-13).

Sat. DAZN 3 p.m. Claressa Shields (14-0) vs Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse (7-1), Michel Rivera (25-1) vs Hugo Roldan (22-2-1); Tito Mercado (15-0) vs Hector Sarmiento (21-2).

Omar Trinidad photo by Lina Baker

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Arne’s Almanac: Jake Paul and Women’s Boxing, a Curmudgeon’s Take

Published

2 days ago

July 24, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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Jake Paul can fight more than a little. The view from here is that he would make it interesting against any fringe contender in the cruiserweight division. However, Jake’s boxing acumen pales when paired against his skill as a flim-flam artist.

Jake brought a 9-1 record into last weekend’s bout with Mike Perry. As noted by boxing writer Paul Magno, Jake’s previous opponents consisted of “a You Tuber, a retired NBA star, five retired MMA stars, a part-time boxer/reality TV star, and two undersized and inactive fall-guy boxers.”

Mike Perry, a 32-year-old Floridian, was undefeated (6-0, 3 KOs) as a bare-knuckle boxer after forging a 14-8 record in UFC bouts. In pre-fight blurbs, Perry was billed as the baddest bare knuckle boxer of all time, but against Jake Paul he proved to have very unrefined skills as a conventional boxer which Team Paul undoubtedly knew all along. Perry lasted into the eighth round in a one-sided fight that could have been stopped a lot sooner.

Jake Paul is both a boxer and a promoter. As a promoter, he handles Amanda Serrano, one of the greatest female boxers in history. That makes him the person most responsible (because the buck stops with him) for the wretched mismatch in last Saturday’s co-feature, the bout between Serrano and Stevie Morgan.

Morgan, who took up boxing two years ago at age 33, brought a 14-1 record. Nicknamed the Sledgehammer, she had won 13 of her 14 wins by knockout, eight in the opening round. However, although she resides in Florida, all but one of those 13 knockouts happened in Colombia.

“We found that in Colombia there were just more opportunities for women’s boxing than in the United States,” she told a prominent boxing writer whose name we won’t mention.

The truth is that, for some folks, Colombia is the boxing equivalent of a feeder lot for livestock, a place where a boxer can go to fatten their record. The opportunities there were no greater than in Hot Springs, Arkansas, in 1995. It was there that Peter McNeeley prepped for his match with Mike Tyson with a 6-second knockout of professional punching bag Frankie Hines. (Six seconds? So it would be written although no one seems to have been there to witness it.)

Serrano vs Morgan was understood to be a stay-busy fight for Amanda whose rematch with Katie Taylor was postponed until November. Stevie Morgan, to her credit, answered the bell for the second round whereas others in her situation would have remained on the stool and invented an injury to rationalize it. Thirty-eight seconds later it was all over and Ms. Morgan was free to go home and use her sledgehammer to do some light dusting.

The Paul-Perry and Serrano-Morgan fights played out in a sold-out arena in Tampa before an estimated 17,000. Those without a DAZN subscription paid $64.95 for the livestream. Paul’s next promotion, where he will touch gloves with 58-year-old Mike Tyson (unless Iron Mike pulls a Joe Biden and pulls out; a capital idea) with Serrano-Taylor II the semi-main, will almost certainly rake in more money than any other boxing promotion this year.

Asked his opinion of so-called crossover boxing by a reporter for a college newspaper, the venerable boxing promoter Bob Arum said, “It’s not my bag but folks who don’t like it shouldn’t get too worked up over it because no one is stealing from anybody.” True enough, but for some of us, the phenomenon is distressing.

—

The next big women’s fight happens Saturday in Detroit where Claressa Shields seeks a world title in a third weight class against WBC heavyweight belt-holder Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse.

A two-time Olympic gold medalist, undefeated in 14 fights as a pro, Shields is very good, arguably the best female boxer of her generation which makes her, arguably, the best female boxer of all time. But turning away Lepage-Joanisse (7-1, 2 KOs) won’t elevate her stature in our eyes.

Purportedly 17-4 as an amateur, the Canadian won her title in her second crack at it. Back in August of 2017, she challenged Cancun’s Alejandra Jimenez in Cancun and was stopped in the third round. Entering the bout, Lepage-Joanisse was 3-0 as a pro and had never fought a match slated for more than four rounds.

Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse

True, on the women’s side, the heavyweight bracket is a very small pod. A sanctioning body has to make concessions to harness a sanctioning fee. Nonetheless, how absurd that a woman who had answered the bell for only 11 rounds would be deemed qualified to compete for a world title. (FYI: Alejandra Jimenez was purportedly born a man. She left the sport with a 12-0-1 record after her win over Franchon Crews Dazurn was changed to a no-contest when she tested positive for the banned steroid stanozolol.)

Following her defeat to Jimenez, Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse, now 29 years old, was out of action for six-and-a-half years. When she returned, she was still a heavyweight, but a much slender heavyweight. She carried 231 pounds for Jimenez. In her most recent bout where she captured the vacant WBC title with a split decision over Argentina’s Abril Argentina Vidal, she clocked in at 173 ¼. (On the distaff side, there’s no uniformity among the various sanctioning bodies as to what constitutes a heavyweight.)

Claressa Shields doesn’t need Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse to reinforce her credentials as a future Hall of Famer. She made the cut a long time ago.

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Former World Bantamweight Champion Richie Sandoval Passes Away at Age 63

Published

4 days ago

July 22, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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Richie Sandoval, who won the WBA and lineal bantamweight title in one of the biggest upsets of the 1980s and then, not quite two years later, suffered near-fatal injuries in a title defense, has passed away at the age of 63.

News circulated fast in the Las Vegas boxing community on Monday, July 22, the grapevine actuated by a tweet from Hall of Fame matchmaker Bruce Trampler: “Boxing and the Top Rank family lost one of our own last night in the passing of former WBA bantamweight champion Richie Sandoval. It hurts personally and professionally to know that Richie is gone at age 63. RIP campeon.”

Details are vague but the cause of death was apparently a sudden heart attack that Sandoval experienced while visiting the Southern California home of his son of the same name.

Richie Sandoval put the LA County community of Pomona, California, on the boxing map before Shane Mosley came along and gave the town a more frequently-cited mention in the sports section of the papers. He came from a fighting family. An older brother, Albert “Superfly” Sandoval, became a big draw at LA’s fabled Olympic Auditorium while building a 35-2-1 record that included a failed bid to capture Lupe Pintor’s world bantamweight title.

Richie was a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic boxing team that was stranded when U.S. President Jimmy Carter (and many other world leaders) boycotted the event as a protest against Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan.

As a pro, Sandoval’s signature win was a 15^th-round stoppage of Jeff Chandler. They fought on April 7, 1984 in Atlantic City. Chandler was making the tenth defense of his world bantamweight title.

Despite being a heavy underdog, Sandoval dominated the fight, winning almost every round until the referee stepped in and waived it off. Chandler, who was 33-1-2 heading in and had avenged his lone defeat, never fought again.

Sandoval made two successful defenses before risking his title against Gaby Canizales on the undercard of Hagler-Mugabi in the outdoor stadium at Caesars Palace. In round seven, Sandoval, who had a hellish time making the weight, was knocked down three times and suffered a seizure as he collapsed from the third knockdown. Stretchered out of the ring, he was rushed to the hospital where doctors reduced the swelling in his brain and beat the odds to save his life. This would be Richie’s lone defeat. He finished his pro career with a record of 29-1 (17 KOs).

Bob Arum cushioned some of the pain by giving Richie a $25,000 bonus and offering him a lifetime job at Top Rank which Richie accepted. And let the record show that Arum was good to his word.

A more elaborate portrait of Richie Sandoval was published in these pages in 2017. You can check it out HERE. May he rest in peace.

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