by David P. Greisman
Danny Garcia’s bout with Mauricio Herrera earlier this year was supposed to be a homecoming of sorts. The 26-year-old Philadelphian was fighting in Puerto Rico, where his family is originally from. Yet Herrera gave him a difficult fight. Garcia won by majority decision, and some voices questioned whether that was the proper verdict.
Garcia believes it was the correct decision, yet he’s not looking for there to be any debate regarding his bout against Rod Salka on Saturday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the main event of a card being broadcast on Showtime.
“I expect a great performance by me,” Garcia said after weighing in. “Everybody know what I bring to the table. I bring excitement. I bring skills. I bring a lot of heart. I bring determination. I know he’s hungry, but it’s a different level. I’m going to show my fans what a true champion I am.
“I’m focused, man. I’m better than ever right now. I had a great camp. They’re going to see vicious Danny Garcia. It’s gonna be nothing pretty. I’m going to handle business.”
This is considered by many to be a showcase bout for Garcia, who won the vacant World Boxing Council belt in 2012 with a win over Erik Morales, unified it months later with a stoppage of Amir Khan, and then defended those belts with a rematch knockout of Morales that wrapped up his year. In 2013, Garcia won unanimous decisions over Zab Judah and division boogeyman Lucas Matthysse.
Garcia is 28-0 with 16 knockouts.
“The negative and positive press is press,” he said. “As long as there’s press, I’m still relevant and I’m still champion.”
Pick up a copy of David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon or internationally at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsworldwide. Send questions/comments via email at [email protected]
