By Jake Donovan
Unbeaten 140 lb. titlist Danny Garcia and his handlers – in particular father and trainer Angel Garcia – have been unmerciful in the trash talk directed at Amir Khan, whom he faces on July 14 in Las Vegas.
The most recent instance came in an interview with BoxingScene’s Bill Emes during a recent training session. The elder Garcia went on a profanity-ridden tirade slamming Khan, insisting his success is a fluke given the general lack of boxing talent to come out of Pakistan.
Refusing to take the bait, Khan remains focused on the task at hand, which is the fight itself.
“I’m not one of these guys who like to get into arguments,” Khan (26-2, 18KO) stated during an international conference call Monday afternoon to hype up their HBO-televised bout at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. “In the end, it’s only going to be me and him in the ring. I know exactly what I need to do in there.”
Khan is coming off of a forced seven-month layoff entering this fight. The 2004 Olympic silver medalist dropped a disputed split decision to Lamont Peterson last December, ending his reign as a unified 140 lb. titlist.
Plans for a May rematch fell apart, with its reasons shedding new light on their initial meet last year. Peterson tested positive for synthetic testosterone in his system during random drug testing, a matter that surfaced late enough in the promotion to altogether cancel the May 19 card in Las Vegas.
Khan immediately agreed to take on Garcia, never breaking training camp as he has now been training for four months. All of his attention remains affixed on resuming his winning ways on July 14, despite Garcia’s greatest efforts to get inside of his head.
As far as Khan is concerned, Garcia and his team can win the war of words. The only victories that matter to the Brit are those achieved inside the ring.
“I’m not going to retaliate to Danny’s father or to Danny himself,” Khan insists. “I’ve been in this situation so many times. I’m a professional fighter and going to let my fists do the talking.
“If it helps talking trash outside the ring, so be it. At the end of the day, Danny’s fighter can’t fight for him in the ring.”
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
