Former two-weight world champion Danny ‘Swift’ García 36-2 (21) comfortably outboxed Ivan ‘El Terrible’ Redkach 23-5-1 (18) over 12 one-sided rounds at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on Saturday night.
Fighting in front of a crowd of 8,217 people, Garcia systematically broke down Redkach to win the fight by scores of 118-110, 117-111 and 117-111.
“I thought the referee was gonna stop it because I felt like I was punishing him,” said Garcia. “He’s a tough guy, he hung in there, I wanted to get the KO, but I didn’t get it.
“I feel like I boxed smart and I feel like that’s what I needed after this layoff. I really wanted the knockout bad, but I’ll accept this.
“He bit me. He said ‘Mike Tyson’ when he bit me. I said ‘Ref, he bit me.’ I thought I needed stitches or something. That’s my first time ever getting bit in a fight. Things happen though. I’ve been in a street fight before, so I did it all.
“I’m not gonna lie, I felt good, but I didn’t feel my best. I did lose a lot of weight for this fight, so maybe that played a factor. From a long layoff, and just losing so much weight. I lost about 25 pounds in eight weeks.
“I promised myself that I’m going to stay in the gym now and stay in shape. I felt regular, but then when I got on the scale a few weeks ago, I was like ‘Woah.’ So maybe that played a factor, maybe it didn’t. I make no excuses. I didn’t feel my best, but I felt good.”
With the win Garcia said he would like to target WBC and IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr or WBA 147-pound boss Manny Pacquiao.
“Either or (Spence or Pacquiao) either of those fights I would like to have. My style looks great with both fighters,” he said.
Redkach said he was never hurt in the fight.
“This was very good experience for me. He never had me hurt and I was able to learn a lot. I’m thankful to be in this position that my team put me in and I’m going to keep growing from here,” Redkach said.
“I’m going to get back in the gym and get stronger and better. I’m thankful for the experience against Danny Garcia. I’m going to be back and be much better.”
