Danny Garcia Seeking Second World Title

January 22, 2016January 22, 2016 / chrismsports / Leave a comment

Danny Garcia hopes to bring home another world boxing title when he takes on Robert Guererro for the vacant World Boxing Council welterweight crown. Photo by Chris Murray.

By Chris Murray
For the Chris Murray Report and The Philadelphia Sunday Sun

Danny “Swift” Garcia has always been confident enough to take advantage of his opportunities as a boxer when the spotlight’s on him.

This Saturday night, the undefeated welterweight, (31-0, 18 KOs) has the chance to add another championship belt to his mantle when he takes Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero for the vacant World Boxing Council welterweight at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

The fight will be nationally televised on FOX and FOX Deportes as a part of its Premier Boxing Champions on Fox Live series.

When it’s all said and done, Garcia said, It’s going to be all about him.

“It’s a Danny Garcia show. I’m always looking to put on a great show, and to go out there and give the fans an exciting fight because at the end of the day, I’ve got to give the fans their money’s worth,” Garcia in a recent teleconference. “So I’m going there and giving the fans their money’s worth in a great fashion and a smart explosive fashion.”

Fighting in his second fight at the welterweight level, Garcia said he is less angry and moody than he was when he was fighting at the 140-pound junior welterweight level. In his first fight as a 147-lb welterweight, he dominated former two-time world champion Paulie Malignaggi, stopping him in a ninth-round technical knockout last August.

“ I’m able to think more; I’m able to be a lot smarter,” Garcia said. “My punches are crispier and my stamina is better. I’m able to run more, run more miles, train harder; more endurance. So I may have had the energy at 140, but at 147 I just feel a lot stronger and I have more stamina.”

In his first title fight at the 140-pound level against Lucas Matthyss, Garcia came into the fight a decided underdog. But the North Philly fighter proved all the experts wrong and came away with an impressive unanimous decision that included an 11th round knockdown of Matthyss.

This time around against Guerrero (33-3-1, 18 KOs), who has lost two of his last four fights including a decision against Floyd Mayweather Jr., Garcia is heavily favored to beat his opponent. Garcia said he has not changed his approach in how he gets ready for a match.

“I always approach my fight mentally [thinking] that I’m going to win,” Garcia said. “I never feed into the politics of the sport or who people think is going to win or going to lose. I prepare myself to be the best Danny Garcia at every fight, and that’s what I prepared myself to do for this fight.”

Garcia believes he has the ability to put away Guerrero early and predicted the fight would be over in his favor within five rounds.

“I’ve just got to go in there and get the job done like I always do. I’m not really worried about what’s next on the agenda or anything like that,” Garcia said. “Our main focus is to get the job done and that’s what we’re preparing ourselves for.”

Meanwhile, the 32-year-old Guerrero, a two-time world title holder, is looking for a chance for redemption and to boost a career that appears to be on the decline. In his last win over Aaron Martinez, Guerrero got knocked down in the fourth round and wound up getting a split decision.

“I think this is a tremendous fight for me to get back on top and to get back in the ranks,” Guerrero said. “To show the doubters and the media and everybody out there that Guerrero got a lot left in him. I’ve been 100 percent prepared for this fight.”

Let’s Get It On: Mayweather-Pacquiao Fight Long Overdue

May 9, 2014May 9, 2014 / chrismsports / 1 Comment

The only fight that boxing fans want to see is Floyd Mayweather Jr. versus Manny Pacquiao. It’s time for the two of them to stop talking and take it to the ring.

By Chris Murray
For the Chris Murray Report and the Philadelphia Sunday Sun

Will Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao ever meet in the ring? Who knows.

PHILADELPHIA—Last weekend I watched unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. (46-0, 26 KOs) win a tough decision over Marcos Maidana for the undisputed world welterweight championship.

Of course, the real buzz about this particular fight was Maidana’s ability to bull Mayweather into the ropes and throw a high volume of punches while keeping him off-balance. Because we’re so used to Mayweather pitching shutouts in the ring, Maidana’s performance in the first four or five rounds had boxing fans believing that it was well worth the $75 it cost on pay-per-view.

After Mayweather pulled out the decision, folks, mainly the announcers from Showtime, were calling for a rematch between the two combatants.
Really?!

Stop!!

As entertaining as the Maidana fight was, a rematch would be a monumental waste of pay-per-view TV time. The only logical opponent for Mayweather is Manny Pacquiao (56-5, 38 KOs). Maidana, Amir Khan and Adrien Broner need to sit on the side and wait for the clash between the true titans of the sport.

For one thing, Maidana’s coming forward and throwing a large number of punches that didn’t land is not enough to call for a rematch. I could see if Maidana had knocked Mayweather down and really beat him up. But that didn’t happen as Mayweather assumed command of the fight from the sixth round forward and treated Maidana like he was a member of his “Bum of the Month” club.

It’s a shame that two of the best boxers of the current era—Mayweather and Pacquiao have yet to get in the ring and have the kind of epic showdown that’s defined the history of the sport.

You would think that boxing, a sport that has been slowly and steadily moving toward the outer rim in the sports entertainment galaxy and is slowly becoming unable to compete with football, basketball and baseball for the public’s esteem, would have pulled this off by now.

Between promoters, the politics of boxing, accusations of doping and the fighters themselves, the only fighting we’ve seen has come in the form of trash talk. Both Mayweather and Pacquiao’s camp have worked really hard to find reasons not to fight.

The problem now is that these guys are not getting any younger. Mayweather is 37 and Pacquiao is 35. At the rate these guys keep dancing around each other, they’re going to be too old for anybody to care. The window of opportunity for these two get into the ring against each other is starting to close.

If they do get in the ring, let’s hope it’s not as irrelevant as Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr., who met in a rematch that came 17 years after both fighters were well past their prime.

In the world of combat sports, boxing is facing competition from mixed martial arts, which is growing and starting to gain momentum. A Mayweather-Pacquiao in the near future would certainly be a boost to the sport.

What’s really at stake for Mayweather and Pacquiao is their respective legacies in the sport. For either one of them to stake their claim as the greatest fighter of the 21st century, they have to fight each other.

So Floyd and Manny do us a favor get in the ring and beat each other’s brains out, two or three times if possible, so you can help today’s young sports fans say the saw two of the greatest pound-for-pound boxers of all-time?

Hopkins Wants to Fight Floyd Mayweather Jr.

April 25, 2014April 25, 2014 / chrismsports / 4 Comments

Boxing’s Oldest Champ wants to unify light heavyweight crowns and then wants a shot at Pretty Boy Floyd

By Chris Murray
For the Chris Murray Report and the Philadelphia Sunday Sun

Bernard Hopkins was back in the gym in this week after last Saturday’s win over Beibut Shuemenov. Photo by Chris Murray.

PHILADELPHIA—The one thing you will not see in this column about Bernard Hopkins is a line that talks about his defying the boundaries of age because with all his accomplishments in recent years.
It’s an old story, and telling it has gotten old as well.

I’m also getting out of the business of pleading with Hopkins, who turns 50 in January, to get out of the boxing game. Yes, he’s a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer as a boxer and a promoter who doesn’t have to prove a damn thing to anybody, but if he wants to keep taking (and giving) the punches, who am I to judge?
Besides, the real story with the legendary Philly fighter is always about what’s next. Nearly 48 hours after he easily dispatched Beibut Shumenov to unify half of the world light-heavyweight championship, Hopkins was training at Joe Hand’s Gym in North Philadelphia and talking about plans for future fights.

“It’s never a time to rest, especially in victory,” Hopkins said. “That’s the time to work harder and smarter …What fighter in the last 30-40 years that’s publicly made it known, win, lose or draw, that he’s in the gym Monday? This ain’t showing off, this ain’t bragging, this is what I do.”

As he approaches 50 with strands of gray popping out of his unshaven face, Hopkins wants to become the undisputed light-heavyweight champion.

And just for the sport of it, Hopkins wants to drop down in weight and take on Floyd Mayweather Jr., arguably the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in the history of the sport and definitely the greatest of his generation.

No, you didn’t read that wrong. Hopkins, who now calls himself, “The Alien”; wants a shot at Mayweather, who currently holds the World Boxing Council welterweight and World Boxing Association super welterweight championship belts.

“Yes, if it’s an opportunity to fight the baddest, one of the smartest minds, along with myself, in the game…Listen, why wouldn’t a chess player love to take on another good chess player?” Hopkins asked rhetorically.

If Hopkins gets into the ring with Mayweather, they would probably fight at 154 pounds. Hopkins said he would be able to handle that weight because he fought as Oscar De La Hoya at 154 pounds when he was the world middleweight champion.

By the way, Hopkins won that fight with a 9th-round knockout. I know that was 10 years ago. But after watching Hopkins beat up younger fighters like Antonio Tarver and Kelly Pavlik, I’ve learned to never the count the old man out.

But while he wants to take on Mayweather, who will defend his welterweight crown against Marcos Maidana on May 3, Hopkins won’t be sitting idly by. His next goal is to unify the light-heavyweight crown by taking on unbeaten World Boxing Council champion and Ring Magazine titleholder Adonis Stevenson (23-0-1 with 20 KOs).

“I’m collecting belts in the process, I’m not sitting back there, getting fat and eating bon-bons,” said Hopkins, who owns the International Boxing Council and the World Boxing Association titles. “I’m making history, too. It’s not like I’m waiting around doing the Amir Khan thing , ‘Please give me a shot and all that stuff.

“I’m going to continue being “The Alien,” and make history. The one guy out there that’s been knocking everybody’s heads off is Adonis Stevenson. …He’s a dangerous puncher. …Any second, any chance you get hit by him, you’re going to sleep. I need that risk to be in the game at this level.”

In addition to being a crafty fighter in the ring, Hopkins is pretty good at promoting and creating storylines.

In the scenario he’s set up, Hopkins would beat Stevenson. After that, he’d take on Mayweather (45-0) who is five fights away from breaking Rocky Marciano’s record for the most wins without a loss.

“Fifty-Fifty promotions,” Hopkins said. “He has a chance to get 50 wins, I turn 50. Fifty-Fifty promotions. …I want to show that I’m the first 50-year-old to be the baddest man and biggest paying guy in the boxing business. Wouldn’t that be a great way to leave the game?”

It would be for Hopkins. But the fun part would be watching the spectacle and the buildup to it. Can you imagine the trash talk between those two? Hopkins said he would have cameras on him 24-7 so the world can see him go through his training regimen.

A Hopkins-Mayweather fight would be a huge boost to boxing. The curiosity alone would hype the fight. Criticism of the fight as an absurdity by more than a few sports writers and columnists would only add fuel to the flame. It would be “Old School versus New School.”

And win or lose, the guts that Hopkins has to even dare to embark on this journey would only solidify his stature in the sport.

The Pride of Puerto Rico: Garcia Looks Forward to Triumphant Homecoming

February 28, 2014February 28, 2014 / chrismsports / Leave a comment

By Chris Murray

For the Chris Murray Report and the Philadelphia Sunday Sun

World Super Lightweight Champion Danny Garcia takes for a few questions from the media shortly before beginning his work out for his upcoming fight against rising contender Mauricio Herrera on March 15 in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. Photo by Chris Murray.

PHILADELPHIA—There is no doubt that world super lightweight champion Danny “Swift” Garcia is a beloved figure in North Philadelphia and is proud of his hometown.

But Garcia is also intensely proud of his Puerto Rican heritage and the island that is connected to it.

“I’m Puerto Rican, I was raised in Philadelphia and so I got the best of both worlds,” said Garcia, who is 27-0 with 16 knockouts. “I got the Puerto Rican power and then I got the Philadelphia toughness and the Philly skills so it comes a long way.”

Because of this, Garcia’s next fight will be a sort of homecoming. Garcia, who holds both the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association titles, will be his titles up against against veteran contender Mauricio Herrera (20-3, seven knockouts) in Bayamon, Puerto Rico on March 15 at the Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez.

“I think it means a lot to me just to reach out to my fans in Puerto Rico,” Garcia said. “They don’t have a champion right now, so I’m going to go out there and win this fight March 15 to solidify being a Puerto Rican champion.”

For Garcia’s father and manager, the irrepressible Angel Garcia, having his son fight in Puerto Rico is a personal source of pride for him, especially considering some of the all-time great Puerto Rican champions like Alfredo Escalera, Wilfred Benitez and Wilfredo Gomez.

“I want Danny to give back to his culture. I’m 100 percent Puerto Rican, my wife is 100 percent Puerto Rican. To me, it’s an honor for him to fight in Puerto Rico,” Angel Garcia said.

“A lot of great champions come from Bayamon and March 15 there’s going to be another great champion fighting in Bayamon and it’s going to be Danny Garcia. …He’s still going to be the undefeated champion of the world.”

Garcia was at his gym in Northeast Philadelphia Wednesday going through the rigors of his workout in preparation for his fight against the 33-year-old Herrera, whose biggest win was in 2011 when he won a 12-round unanimous decision over World Boxing Organization champion Ruslan Provodnikov.

To say that 2013 was a very good year for Garcia would be an understatement. After a win over former world champion Zab Judah, he won a tough, hard-fought unanimous decision over Argentine knockout artist Lucas Matthysse.

The Matthysse fight was one that no one expected Garcia to win. After battling through an early barrage from Matthysse, Garcia assumed command of the fight from the middle to late rounds. In the 11^th round, Garcia put Matthysse on the canvas with a knockdown to ensure that he got the win by decision.

Garcia has appreciated the whirlwind 2013 created for him.

“It’s been a good learning experience for me and a good journey,” Garcia said.

His father, Angel, sees a fighter whose peaking at just the right time.

“He’s gotten an older, not old as an old man, but as a young man,” Angel Garcia said. “He learns from every fight. A man learns until he dies. He’s better right now. He punches harder now than before.”

Coming into the Herrera fight, Garcia is in the unusual position of being the favorite in the minds of some boxing experts.

To him, that means nothing.

“The day I stop taking it seriously is the day I stop boxing,” Garcia said. “Anytime you step in the ring the other person is trying to hurt you, so I would never put myself in a position where I’m going into the ring and I’m not ready. I take no one lightly.”

It was widely speculated in boxing circles that world welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., who is scheduled to Marcos Maidana in May, would be a big-time opponent for Garcia.

But as much as Danny and Angel Garcia would like to prepare for a match with a legendary champion like Mayweather, they’re exercising patience.

Danny Garcia knows that it’s only a matter of time.

“At the end of the day, I’m building my own legacy and if the Mayweather fight comes, it comes. I’ll fight anybody. That’s why I signed up to be a boxer is to fight the best,” he said. “As far as me worrying about (Mayweather) and chasing that fight, that’s not me. I’ve never called nobody out. I stay in my own lane. I work hard. Whoever they put in front of me, that’s who gets beat up that day.”

Underdog No More: Garcia Proves He’s Among Boxing’s Best

October 3, 2013October 3, 2013 / chrismsports / 1 Comment

By Chris Murray

For the Chris Murray Report and the Philadelphia Sunday Sun

Danny Garcia (right) lobs a right the chin of Lucas Matthysee in their WBA/WBC super lightweight title fight in Las Vegas last month.

Throughout his young career, world super-lightweight champion Danny “Swift” Garcia has found himself cast as the underdog by boxing insiders each time he’s stepped into the ring for a major fight.

And the unbeaten Garcia (27-0, 16 KOs) has made these skeptics eat their words. The 25-year-old phenom’s incredible performance in the ring has wowed the boxing world and his tenacity in the ring has made him a rising star.

Like most Philly fighters, Garcia’s relentless warrior mentality is one that can’t be taught.

“I’m a different fighter, it’s in me, it’s in my spirit,” said the graduate of Northeast Philadelphia’s George Washington High School. “Most guys have to learn to be a fighter. That’s the difference between me and these guys. They want to be a fighter. I am a fighter, first. I can do both (a boxer and fighter). What they learn, I already know. It’s in my spirit.”

That was the case in Garcia’s last title defense against heavily favored Lucas Matthysse, who had knocked out or stopped his last six opponents. A good number of boxing experts were predicting that the young North Philadelphia fighter would get knocked out.

In an action-packed fight in which he struggled early, Garcia won a unanimous decision over Matthysse last month to retain his World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council titles in the 140-pound division. It was the co-main event on the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Canelo Alvarez undercard.

Early in the fight Matthysse, who has the ability to end a fight with just one punch, seemed to have the upper hand on Garcia, who didn’t get hurt and managed to stay on his feet by avoiding some of Matthysse hardest punches.

“It was even in the first couple of rounds, I stuck to my game plan, I’m a true champion, I make adjustments,” Garcia said.

The adjustment that Garcia made was the use of his left-hook to Matthysse’s head and body. By the seventh round, Garcia’s punches eventually took their toll on Matthysse, swelling his right eye shut. From that point, the challenger didn’t see the flurry left and rights peppering his face and mid-section.

The young North Philadelphia fighter showed his true grit in the 11^th round when a game Matthysse stung Garcia with a right that knocked his mouthpiece out. Seemingly unfazed, Garcia bounced back with a left hook that put Matthysse on the canvas for the first time in his career.

Garcia came into that fight having already beaten some of the top names in the sport and former world champions like Amir Khan (4^th Round TKO) and Zab Judah (unanimous decision). He said he’s never seen himself as an underdog. It’s something that others have imposed on him.

“I don’t even pay attention to none of that stuff. I just go in and train hard for the fight. I know what I can do. That’s something that the media has put on me, I don’t call myself an underdog,” Garcia said. “I don’t why they put that label on me but it is what it is.”

In the Matthysse fight, Garcia didn’t like the idea of being cast as the underdog because he felt he had fought a better quality of opponents than his rival.

“I don’t understand how I could be an underdog when Lucas Matthysse was the first fighter I’ve fought in five fights who wasn’t a current or past champion,” Garcia said. “He never won a world title and I’m the underdog.”

After his win over Matthysse, Garcia said he is looking to move up from the 140-pound division to the welterweight (147 pounds) where there could be some intriguing matchups. He said it’s up to his management team to make those matches for him.

Would he fight Matthysse again? Garcia said that’s out of the question.

“A rematch is pointless because I won the fight and I was the champion,” Garcia said. “If he was the champion, I would have to give him a rematch but he wasn’t the champ. He was the challenger, he lost.”

Some boxing observers said there is the possibility that Garcia would fight Mayweather, who methodically picked apart Alvarez in the same night Garcia defeated Matthysse. There’s also unbeaten WBA welterweight champion Adrien Broner (27-0, 22 KOs), who has a huge fight in December against Marcos Maidana of Argentina (34-3, 31 KOs).

“Whoever they put in front of me, I’m going to make a great show out of it, give them they want and win the fight,” Garcia said.

Given his ability to come up with big performances against seemingly better opposition, Garcia sees no limits in his potential to being one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world.

“I’m getting better and better with each fight and with every fight I’m showing something new,” Garcia said. I’m only 25-years-old. In a couple of years, God knows how good I’ll be. “

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