By Victor Salazar
Brooklyn, New York - Former WBC/WBA junior welterweight champion Danny Garcia (31-0, 18 KO's) made his successful debut in the welterweight division last Saturday night at the Barclays Center when he stopped former two-division champion Paulie Malignaggi in the ninth round of their Premier Boxing Champions on ESPN headliner.
Following the bout, Garcia said he felt the move to 147 was refreshing and indicates he felt stronger later in the fight.
“Any weight above 140 would help,” said Garcia about the moved. “I was able to use my speed and my power to cut the ring off and that’s what we did. We put the road work and followed the game plan in we did good things because we just felt stronger and fresher.”
Garcia put in a dominating performance in what may have been Malignaggi’s last professional fight. Garcia says he didn’t think Malignaggi was going to give in to his punches until the end.
“I knew he was going to go in there and box. We prepared not to get desperate. It felt like he was still moving and I didn’t feel he was breaking down until the end. Paulie’s faced a lot of great champs and when he hugged me at the end, he said he was done," Garcia said.