Promising Prospect: Danny Garcia

By Mario Ortega Jr.

W: 5 L: 0 Light Welterweight Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Using the term “promising” to describe unbeaten Danny “Young Swift” Garcia may actually be doing the young upstart a disservice. Garcia is the professional boxing equivalent of a high first round NBA draft pick in basketball. Already, just five bouts into his professional career, he seems to have everything a young prospect could ask for. He has a long and distinguished amateur career behind him. He has plenty of time to progress, being that he is just barely 20 years of age. He has the backing of both a high-powered manager and promoter, who together have kept him active almost exclusively on some of the largest cards in the sport. Just about every boxing major critic has praised him as one of the young, up and coming future stars of the sport. They may be high expectations to live up to, but they seem to only fuel this Philadelphia native’s fire.

Like so many of the great boxers throughout the history of the sport, Danny Garcia comes from a fighting family. His father, Angel, fought as an amateur, as did his uncles. An uncle on Danny’s mother’s side was in prison with Bernard Hopkins and on the same boxing team as the future middleweight champion. “Boxing is in my blood, we just have a fighting family,” says Danny. Danny’s older brother Erick was the first to follow in the family footsteps. Erick, who is three years older than Danny, boxed for three years before giving it up. Watching his older brother train and compete, stoked Danny’s desire to become a fighter himself. “I would just watch him in the gym and think that it looked easy. I couldn’t wait to do it myself,” Danny remembers.

Garcia showed an interest in the fistic art at a very early age. “When he was five, we used to sit there and watch [Julio Cesar] Chavez,” says Angel. After watching the Mexican legend on television, Danny would emulate what he just witnessed. “I’d have him dipping and slipping, and that’s when I knew he was gifted,” says Angel. Danny also got into trouble in school for fighting, which was another sign to his father that boxing may be in his future. He waited until Danny was a bit older, and first took him to the gym when he was eight. Danny later gave it up for a bit, but returned when he was ten years old. Over the next several years, under the guidance of his father, Danny would develop into an accomplished amateur fighter, eventually winning Under 19 National Championship and Tammer Tournament Championship in 2005.

The following year, Danny really made his presence felt on the national amateur boxing scene. He entered the U.S. Championships in Colorado Springs, Colorado to compete for the 132-pound lightweight title. “Nobody knew who I was, I was the underdog,” says Danny. He opened things up by winning a close decision over fellow Philadelphian Ray Robinson, 17-14. Garcia won twice more, before meeting accomplished amateur Luis Ramos of Santa Ana, California in the finals. Garica, just days past his 18th birthday, would defeat Ramos 30-25 to claim the national championship.

In March of 2007, Garcia entered the U.S. Championships again, this time set to win the 141-pound welterweight title. Garcia, no longer the unknown underdog, made it to the semi-finals where he met Brad Soloman of Douglasville, Georgia. Garcia missed advancing to the championship round by a single point, dropping the decision to Soloman 14-13. It is a loss that Garcia takes exception to, “I thought I won the fight, everyone thought I won the fight,” states Danny.

Just months later, Garcia entered the U.S. Olympic Trials in Houston, Texas. It is the dream of every star American amateur fighter to represent the United States in the Olympic Games, and Garcia was no different. “When I started in the amateurs, my whole goal was to make the Olympics,” says Danny. “When I was there [at the Olympic Trials,] it was a dream come true. But when I lost, it was a heart break.” Garcia made his way to the finals, defeating top amateurs Dan O’Connor of Framington, Massachusetts, Mike Dallas Jr. of Bakersfield, California, Samuel Martinez of Jacksonville, North Carolina and Jeremy Bryan of Clifton, New Jersey, who had scored a victory over him earlier in the competition. In the finals Garcia would take on Javier Molina of Commerce, California for the chance to be the 141-pound U.S. representative at the Beijing Olympics. Molina would take the decision, 26-12, and make the U.S. Olympic squad instead of Danny. It would be another hard loss for Garcia to accept. “It was a political fight,” Danny declares. “I thought I won the fight, I gave him a black eye even.” Danny knows it is possible that he and Molina will cross paths again, “I can’t wait to fight him as a pro.”

Considering that Danny was only 19 when he just missed making the Olympics, many fighters in his position would return to amateur competition in hopes of making the team four years later. The Garcias felt now was the right time for Danny, the third ranked amateur welterweight in the United States, to make the leap into the paid ranks. “You could be an Olympian and never be a world champion,” says Angel. “So we said ‘let’s do it now.’ You never know what might happen in four years, so we decided now was the time.” Despite coming so close to fulfilling his dream, Danny is convinced he made the right decision in turning professional. In turning pro now, he may even have a leg up on those who did make the team. “If you don’t make the team once, you could be behind [in your career,]” says Danny. “By the time the guys from the Olympics turn pro, I’ll be 12-0, so it’s a real big advantage. I’ll be that much closer to my dream of becoming a world champion.” In addition to the timing factor, Danny feels he is better suited for professional boxing. “I definitely have a pro style,” says Danny. “I like to sit down on my punches. I knew when I turned professional I had a better style as a pro.”

Finding confidence in his decision to bypass another try at Olympic glory may have been made easier once he signed with top boxing manager Shelly Finkel, and promotional giant Golden Boy Promotions, before even lacing up for his pro debut. Danny’s father Angel is confident with his son’s career being guided by Finkel. “The best person for the job is Shelly,” Angel claims. “Shelly is the only one to open doors for you.” With Finkel managing him, Garcia has kept a busy pace and fought on undercards of many of the biggest events. Danny understands it is an opportunity not afforded to many young fighters. “Shelly is keeping me busy. He gets me on the big shows. No other young fighters start out on the big shows like that,” says Danny. In signing with Golden Boy, a fighter Danny grew up idolizing, Oscar De La Hoya, will have a hand in directing his career. “Oscar was my hero growing up, so when they said Golden Boy [Promotions,] I was like ‘ok,’” says Danny.

In addition to all the amateur success and the promotional support Danny receives, he also has a storied tradition to live up to, being a fighter from the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Generally when boxing experts refer to someone as a “Philadelphia Fighter,” they are describing someone coming out of the old, beat down gyms of North and West Philadelphia that tend to brawl more than box. “Everybody looks at you as a Philly fighter,” says Danny. “When you are from Philly, people expect a lot from you.” Angel Garcia does not see his son fitting into the Philly fighter mold, “It’s not just about brawling and the gym wars with him, Danny has a lot of talent to come with it,” says Angel. Danny Garcia, along with several other recent fighters, is attempting modify the stereotype, if not change it altogether. “People are starting to realize, you have to make it out of the city,” says Danny.

This past November, Garcia made his professional debut against Mike Denby in Atlantic City, New Jersey. “That is the most nervous I’ve been in my life,” reflects Danny. His nervousness altered his approach a bit in his first fight. “I was throwing bombs. It was different to have no head gear, no shirt, but I got used to it,” says Garcia. Five fights into his career now, it is a feeling that is still with Danny. “I still get a little tense, but it’s still new.” Danny would blitz Denby, knocking him out just over a minute into the first round. For his second pro bout, Danny would meet Jesus Villareal on the undercard of the Ricky Hatton-Floyd Mayweather showdown in Las Vegas, Nevada. One thing about fighting on the big shows that Danny has, is that he fights before the vast majority of the patrons enter the arena. Fighting in front of sparse crowds is still a little unusual for Garcia. “People motivate me. When there is nobody there it is a little hard,” Danny admits. In front of the few on hand, Danny steamrolled Villareal, scoring a second-round stoppage.

A full crowd was on hand to witness Danny’s third pro bout, a dominant second-round stoppage of 30-year old veteran Marlo Cortez in Cabazon, California. The fight was also televised nationally by Telefutura, which was an added incentive for the young fighter to do well. “When I fought on Telefutura, there were a lot of people there, and a lot of people told me they saw me on television,” says Danny. Being a highly publicized and touted prospect, Danny knows that even the journeymen opponents he fights early in their career will be at their best, since a win over him can help their careers immensely. “I knew that was going to happen,” says Danny. “It happened in the amateurs once people knew who I was. The underdogs would come in really trying to beat me.” Danny refuses to take any opponents lightly, “We go into every fight like it’s our last.”

For his fourth pro bout, Garcia met Charles Wade on the undercard of the rematch between Juan Manuel Marquez and Manny Pacquiao in March. Garcia made short work of Wade, knocking him out 43 seconds into the opening stanza. During the bout, well regarded journalist Doug Fischer, calling the fight which was streamed on the internet, was impressed with the young pro Garcia. “He’s one of the most highly touted American, if not the most highly touted boxer with less than five fights,” proclaimed Fischer during the broadcast. Garcia followed that performance up, just a month later, with a first-round knockout of Guadalupe Diaz, a 4-1 fighter at the time.

The Danny Garcia Express continues to roll on, and makes its next stop in Carson, California on the May 3rd undercard of De La Hoya’s bout with Steve Forbes. The busy schedule agrees with Garcia, who knows that it is a great benefit to him as a young fighter. “Right now it is really important to keep fighting [regularly,] it’s really important,” Garcia understands. Growing up an admirer of De La Hoya, fighting on his undercard is a thrill for Garcia. “It adds motivation, it’s like a dream come true,” says Danny. Garcia will be taking on a 17-fight veteran, twelve years his senior, in Manuel Bocanegra on Saturday. While Bocanegra sports an unimpressive (7-8-1, 5 KOs) record, he has been in with some top fighters and even sprang an upset on Daniel Attah, knocking out the former title challenger in 2003. Attah was 21-1-1 at the time, and had recently gone the distance with Acelino Freitas. The apparent step up in class does not seem to bother the confident Garcia. “All I know is he is 7-8 and from Mexico,” says Garcia. Danny also does not believe in researching much about his opponent, and concentrates his efforts in the gym. “I don’t watch tapes,” says Danny. “The less you know the better. I focus more on my preparation.”

With his father Angel training him, and his brother Erick working his corner, boxing is still the Garcia family business. There have been many father-son duos gain prominence in the sport over the years, but just as many have had their personal relationships suffer as a consequence. It is a trend that does not concern this father-son team. “Me and Danny go through a lot of things, but we don’t let it come between us,” says Angel. “The only person he can trust in the ring, other than himself, is me.” While they will understandably have their moments, they have come this far together, and Danny is glad to have his father in his corner. “Me and my dad have a strong bond,” says Danny. “We’ve been through a lot together, but he will always be there for me.”

Family is also much of the reason Danny works so hard to do well in the sport of boxing. “My main motivation is to give my family a better life,” says Danny. “I have two seven-year old, twin sisters and I just want to give them a better life.” Danny has sacrificed a lot to get to where he is. He had a different childhood experience than most, with boxing such a big part of it. “My high school kicked me out for absences for boxing, but the second school I attended I explained to them [about boxing,] and they understood,” says Danny, who graduated last year. While juggling school and boxing was difficult, Garcia would not have changed a thing. “I don’t think I missed anything. I’m going forward, and I don’t have any regrets about missing out on childhood,” says Danny.

Danny Garcia has the look of a future champion. He has all the tools to do so, but it is not going to be easy. With great expectations comes the opportunity for great failure. There has been many a highly touted prospect that buckled under the pressure of the bright lights and big contracts. However, there is something about this Philly fighter that makes you believe he was meant for the bright lights of the big stage. “It motivates me to stay on my A-game,” says Danny. “People are expecting great things from me.”

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortega15rds@lycos.com