NEW YORK – Although Saturday’s fight in Brooklyn is being billed as Danny Garcia’s farewell to Brooklyn, for the man standing opposite him at Barclays Center, it will be the world’s introduction to Danny Gonzalez.
Gonzalez, a native of the Woodhaven section of Queens, hopes that a win over the former two-division world champion Garcia will lead to his own world title opportunity. Gonzalez, 22-4-1 (7 KOs), says that if he had his way, he would want an opportunity against WBC junior middleweight belt holder Sebastian Fundora next, should he get past Garcia. The 13-year pro Gonzalez says he has seen far less-deserving fighters than himself get opportunities, and he believes a win over Garcia will make his case.
“I want Fundora,” Gonzalez said. “I think I can tackle that skyscraper. Pressure, straight down the middle. People give him too much respect, but I’d make him comfortable and get that ‘W.’
“Just look at Jaron Ennis: He fought some guy, I don’t even know who that guy is. [If] I beat Danny Garcia, give me what I deserve.”
Gonzalez, who is riding a two-fight winning streak, including a dominant win over Michael “Slick” Anderson in his previous outing, says his experience in camp with Garcia back in 2018 as a sparring partner ahead of his fight with Shawn Porter, plus his time working alongside former titlists Keith Thurman and Luis Collazo, has prepared him to fight against the top fighters in the sport.
“I'm just excited. I'm not even stressed,” Gonzalez said. “Like, I know I belong here. I've been waiting for shit like this my whole life. So I'm just absorbing it, being aware. And I'm gonna go in there and show them what Queens is, and I'm telling you, I'm gonna shock the world.
“This is everything. This is proving the statement that hard work pays off, consistency pays off. I’ve been grinding 20 years. Fighting in the main event on the big screen against Danny Garcia, the Barclays Center main event – I’m living the dream.”
So confident in himself is Gonzalez that he has placed the maximum allowable bet on himself with the online sportsbook FanDuel, which he calls, at +360 odds (now up to +410), “free money.” Garcia – despite being two years older, at 37, and fighting for the first time since his only career stoppage loss 13 months ago – is a significant favorite at -650 with that same book.
Gonzalez thinks his time – and Garcia’s as well – has finally come.
“I think Danny Garcia’s been in a lot of wars,” Gonzalez said. “I don’t think his body is fresh anymore. Who knows? I might shock him and start lighting him up and get him out of there early.
“But I’m not coming in there with a knockout mentality, I’m coming in there to go 10 rounds hard and technically outclass him.”
Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at ryansongalia@gmail.com or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.
