Philly boxer Danny Garcia ready to defend titles
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Angel Garcia draped his left arm around the shoulders of his son, world champion Danny "Swift" Garcia, and smacked his son's chest with his right hand.
With each thud, Angel Garcia's voice grew louder.
His son, Angel Garcia said, is all he cares about.
"This is a new era of fighters," Angel Garcia said Thursday afternoon at Juniata Park's Harrowgate Boxing Club. "Swift is the champ of the world. Everyone else is just an opponent to the champ."
And the champ will meet his next opponent on April 27 at Brooklyn's Barclays Center, where Danny Garcia will defend his unified light-welterweight world titles in a 12-round bout against Brooklyn's Zab Judah (42-7, 29 KOs). The match will be shown live on Showtime.
The 35-year-old Judah's southpaw style could cause problems for Garcia, who has relied on his left hook to win his last two bouts. But Angel Garcia said his son is like a chameleon and knows how to adapt.
"To me, it's easier because I can land my hard right hand and my hard right hook," Danny Garcia said.
A bruised rib in January forced Garcia (25-0, 16 KOs) to postpone the fight for two months. He returned to Harrowgate last month in time for an eight-week training camp. Garcia's health is 100 percent, he said, and well tested.
"I was telling my dad, 'Hit me hard to the body,' " Garcia said.
Garcia, 25, said he plans to prove this year that he is the premier fighter in a fast-growing weight class. And to do so, Angel Garcia said, his son has to step on the opposition and keep going.
And again, the right hand cracked his son's chest.
"My dad's got heavy hands," Danny Garcia said. "But, that's just how he talks. He's old-school."
Contact Matt Breen at mbreen@phillynews.com.
