Danny Garcia turned pro 18 years ago and he has seen plenty of changes in the boxing landscape since.
Making an appearance on “The Ariel Helwani Show” earlier this week, Garcia was outspoken about proposed changes to boxing legislation and the structure of the sport. Asked by BoxingScene to compare the sport now to when he started, Philadelphia’s Garcia said: “It’s a good question. There’s selected fighters that’s getting paid, so that’s good for them. But I think, overall, it’s a bit shaky – only because when I was coming up, HBO and Showtime, that’s where you built fighters and it was guaranteed. That was 40 years of boxing. Now it’s just like, you don’t know who’s going to come and go, you know? Boxing’s all over the place. Like, each promoter has their relationship with each network. So boxing is separated, but there’s no home yet in boxing. And I think that’s what’s missing. There’s no real home, where people used to be like … they knew you were a good fighter; you were fighting on HBO.
“People don’t know where you’re fighting now. So I feel like we just need a home in boxing. I think it’ll come now over time.”
Garcia’s second pro fight was on the Floyd Mayweather Jnr-Ricky Hatton undercard in December 2007. He stopped a journeyman from Texas, Jesus Villareal, in just two rounds.
He also got to meet Hatton for the only time and took a picture with him, their features both sunken and drawn as they were making weight.
Garcia saw Hatton’s travelling fans then, and has seen nothing like it since.
“I remember one thing about him, besides him being a great champion, his fans loved him,” Garcia said. “There’s nothing like Ricky Hatton fans. Those people love Ricky Hatton. I remember that the stadium, when he fought Floyd, was just like … the atmosphere. I’ve never been to a fight like that. That ‘24/7’ [award-winning build-up series] on HBO was one of the best ‘24/7’s. Ricky Hatton was not only a great fighter, but he was an entertainer and he had great fans, and people loved him.”
Garcia will fight Saturday night in front of his Brooklyn fans against David Gonzalez in a fight that could mark Garcia’s final appearance in the ring.
