New York: Danny Garcia and Adrian Granados match up Saturday night as PBC on FOX and FOX Deportes continue to provide boxing fans another championship card from Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. And for both fighters this is that fight with the always so-called implications.
Garcia, a pride of Puerto Rico, and former two-time champion from Philadelphia is anxious to show the world he deserves to be in that mix again for a world title in the welterweight division. of course the 147-pound class is the elite of boxing with Keith Thurman. And the title holders,Manny Pacquiao, Shawn Porter, Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford.
The same evening, on ESPN Pay-Per-View from Madison Square Garden, Crawford defends a portion of his welterweight championship against Amir Khan, another former champion. Down the line boxing fans hope to see Crawford and Spence bang heads as they to many are considered the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport.
So, Garcia and Granados have a lot at stake. They both want to be a part of this mix and get a title in the division. A loss for either could mean a setback and Danny Garcia is focused to regain a title he feels should be his. His last fight resulted a unanimous decision loss to Porter for the vacant WBC welterweight title in September at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Garcia believed he was robbed again and the scorecards could have been closer to this observer and many others at ringside.
But for the 31-year old Garcia, that was then and this is now. He is focused and is aware this is a fight he needs to win Saturday night. He takes pride in his heritage as proud member of the Puerto Rico community and every win he dedicates to his fans and people of the country.
“I’m always in great, I’m always in tip top shape,” Garcia said during a media conference call Tuesday. “I’m a high-level fighter. I’ve faced a lot of adversity in my career and I highly doubt that he can stop me. I got a lot of skills. I’m in great shape so if anybody’s going down this fight, it’s definitely going to be him, not me.”
But this will not be easy for Danny Garcia. Granados,20-6-2, 14 KO’s of Mexican descent and residing in Illinois, can punch and uses the ring. He also lost to Porter by 12-round unanimous decision at Barclays Center in November of 2017.
So there is a mutual respect and understanding for both fighters. They will be in that ring Saturday night and this in other words could be for all the marbles. Wining is essential this time and a knockout is the intention and leaving it out of the judges hands. Garcia feels he needs the knockout and so does Granados.
“I’m a winner,” Garcia said. “So it’s always tough when a fight doesn’t go your way, but I try not to think about that. I know there’s a great fight and the future is now, so I can’t worry about what happened in the past. My mind set is just simply winning on Saturday night and everything else it just doesn’t matter to me.”
Garcia said the Crawford-Garcia fight can go either way, He will be too occupied about the outcome in New York. But the attention will be on who wins that one because this former champion would eventually like to be part of the championship mix for that part of the welterweight title. Crawford holds the WBO welterweight title.
He also lost a controversial split decision to Keith Thurman and a chance at the WBA title in March of 2017 also at the Barclays Center.
“I feel like those fights will always be there in the future, in the near future,” he said. “So I just have to make sure I go in there Saturday night and handle business, first.”
VERDEJO HILGHLIGHTS TOP RANK UNDERCARD AT GARDEN: There is a good undercard at the Garden Saturday night prior to the Crawford-Khan main event that will be seen on the ESPN Networks. Other Latino fighters that take the spotlight are undefeated lightweight Teofimo Lopez 12-rounds in defense of his NABF title against Edis Tatli, Christopher Diaz in a 10-round featherweight showdown against Top Rank prospect and Olympian Shakur Stevenson.
And there is Felix Verdejo. The lightweight, 24-1-0, 16 Ko’s from San Juan,has to make a statement. Once a promising prospect for Top Rank and with championship aspirations, Verdejo has sustained injuries and was involved in a severe motorcycle accident almost two years ago in nearby San Juan. He opposes Bryan Vasquez an interim world champion.
“I know this is a very important fight for my career,” Verdejo said this week. “I’m going against a former world champion and a great fighter. But I am ready to show the world that I’m still an elite fighter. For me this fight is about redemption. After beating Vasquez, I want to fight for a world title.”
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