Undefeated Garcia on quest for welterweight championship
PHILADELPHIA — Danny Garcia is as much a brand as he is a boxer in the Philadelphia neighborhood where he trains. His DSG initials — the interlocking S for Swift represents his style — are stamped on a gym, a car wash, a body shop and a barbershop. Much like in the movies, there are plans for a barbershop spinoff, this one a beauty shop across the street.
Working more on crew cuts rather than uppercuts, Garcia even fancied himself a bit of a barber in his teens.
These days, Garcia is simply trying to stay a cut above other boxers in his class. While his name adorns his growing business empire, it’s just not found on a list of boxing champions.
Garcia and his father and trainer, Angel, recently purchased apartments and a ballroom they plan to rent out for parties and baptisms — and maybe even world championship celebrations.
If the “Swift” nickname properly describes his rise to one of boxing’s big names by 2012, “stall” might be more appropriate for the last three years. Still undefeated, Garcia is coming off a pair of nondescript fights and he surrendered a pair of lighter 140-pound belts last year when he moved up in weight.
Garcia (31-0, 18 KOs) can bring a championship home to Philadelphia when he fights Robert Guerrero (333-1) on Saturday in Los Angeles for the vacant 147-pound welterweight championship. The WBC title belt was left vacant when Floyd Mayweather Jr. retired.
Guerrero has lost welterweight title bouts to Mayweather and Keith Thurman.
With a win, the 27-year-old Garcia would be in line for a rematch of his win over Amir Khan. Angel Garcia said he had no use for another fight against Khan since Danny knocked him out in 2012.
Garcia seemed marked for true stardom after taking out Khan, Erik Morales, Zab Judah and Lucas Matthysse by late 2013. But wins against underwhelming opponents Mauricio Herrera and catch weight victories over Rod Salka and Lamont Peterson dimmed his star a bit.
“We should have went up right after Matthysse,” Angel Garcia said. “I wanted to do catch weight, I wanted to take my time with him. It didn’t work out the way I thought it was going to work out. We still won, it wasn’t like we lost.”
Danny Garcia joked he deserved “an easy one” against Salka, but said he knew his pedigree took a bit of a hit in recent years. Garcia was determined to become the first Latino world champion out of Philadelphia and restore luster to his brand.
“I know there’s more that we can do and there are better days ahead,” he said. “We’re getting to where we want to be.”
Garcia, usually clad from cap to sneaks in DSG gear, has become a bit of a local sports celebrity in a city where middleweight great Bernard Hopkins has long reigned as Philly’s fifth franchise. Garcia spent time last month in the locker room chatting with Philly native and Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry. Garcia counts former Eagles DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy and 76ers great Allen Iverson among his friends.
His fame and paydays are growing, and so is his family. Garcia and his girlfriend had a daughter in August they named Philly Swift Garcia.
He dedicated the fight to his daughter and will wear pink and black — the colors of a true hitman — to the ring.
Garcia has even shacked up at his father’s place to avoid the middle of the night crying fits and diaper changes that could keep a title contender awake and tired the next day.
“When we’ve got camp, it’s camp. It’s all about Danny Garcia,” Angel said. “That’s the mom’s job to worry about the baby.”
Angel Garcia, who served two years in prison when Danny was a boy, and later beat throat cancer, knows he can mold into Garcia into a welterweight champ. For years, he was so used to calling Danny his undefeated champ, that it was tough to stop with the billing after they coughed up the belts.
“After he wins,” Angel said, “I can say it again.”