by David P. Greisman, photo by Ryan Hafey
It’s no secret that WBC welterweight champion Danny Garcia (33-0, 19KOs) likes counterpunching. His hand speed and power when countering helped him knock out Amir Khan, and it was how he picked apart an overmatched Samuel Vargas this past Saturday night in Philadelphia.
“I’m a good counterpuncher. That’s one of my biggest weapons as a fighter,” Garcia said afterward.
“He [Vargas] came with a good game plan. He was using his jab. He was using awkward movement. He was using his legs a little bit. He came with a good plan. It wasn’t as easy as you probably thought it looked. I had to go in there and make adjustments. I had to put my timing together. My dad told me to stop throwing one punch at a time, put your combinations together. And when I started putting combinations together, that’s when I started landing punches.”
But when Garcia faces WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman (27-0, 22KOs) on March 4, Thurman’s approach may necessitate a different approach.
“It depends what he wants to do,” Garcia said. “Most of his fights he’s been moving around the ring, using the ring, maybe I’m going to have to walk him down and time him and back him up and just let my hands go. It depends whatever he brings to the table. I got to make adjustments. That’s what I do. I make adjustments in the fight to get the victory.”
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