SONAHR: March 16, 2014 – WBA/WBC/Ring Magazine junior-welterweight champion Danny ?Swift? Garcia is a Philadelphia fighter of Puerto Rican heritage, combining two outstanding boxing traditions. On Saturday, he ventured to his parents? homeland for a title defense against Mauricio Herrera, a challenger described as ?rugged? ? which is generally means a guy who can take a good punch, but can?t really hurt you. With only seven stoppages in his 20-3 record, Herrera seemed a perfect fit for that description. It looked to be a relatively easy assignment for Garcia, especially coming on the heels of his career-defining victory over the ever-dangerous Lucas Matthysse late last year.
Looks were deceiving this time, though. After the echoes of the bell ending the twelfth and final round faded, Garcia came away with a slim majority decision ? and a broken nose, courtesy of a blow landed by the feisty Herrera in the ninth stanza. Danny may have won the decision, but he lost some of the love of the fans in the Bayamon, Puerto Rico arena with his less-than-stellar performance.
Give Herrera credit, though. He fought the right fight against an aggressive puncher like Garcia ? stay on him, smother him, back him up, outwork him. In Herrera?s own mind, that effort should have been sufficient to relieve Garcia of his title, regardless of Garcia?s status as ?hometown? favorite. In the judges? minds, though, Herrera did not do enough to win the bout.
The difference was, Garcia was able to adjust after finding himself in difficult circumstances, i.e., nearly getting shut out by the relentless pressure Herrera applied during the first four rounds. Unlike certain other talented fighters who find themselves unable to step up when they are having a bad night (the name Adrien Broner comes to mind here), Garcia rose to the occasion and finished strong even with blood flowing from his busted beak. Herrera gave Garcia an unexpected test ? and Garcia passed it, though not without some anxious moments.
So, what?s next for Garcia? In his post-fight interview, he hinted that he was having trouble making the 140-pound junior-welter limit, and might move up to the talent-laden welterweight ranks. If he opts to stay at junior-welter, he could take on hard-hitting WBO champion Ruslan Provodnikov. Garcia-Provodnikov would be the superfight of the 140-pound division.
Against Herrera, Garcia did not show much that would cause Provodnikov to lose any sleep. Then again, Garcia didn?t look all that great in beating veteran Zab Judah before taking on Matthysse, and then he took the Argentine apart. Could he do the same to the feared Provodnikov? That would be a far tougher test for him to pass.
On the Garcia-Herrera undercard, heavyweight sensation Deontay Wilder racked up another first-round blast-out, this time over Malik Scott, an opponent several cuts above the others who have contributed to Wilder?s 30 knockouts in 30 wins against no defeats. Wilder?s progress is reminiscent of the young George Foreman?s march of destruction during the early 1970s. Of course, we all know what happened to George when he ran into Muhammad Ali. Is someone out there waiting to pull the ?rope-a-dope? on Wilder?
Charles R. Saunders is the author of several books including Sweat and Soul: The Saga of Black Boxers in the Maritimes from the Halifax Forum to Caesars Palace, as well as the Imaro series of fantasy/adventure novels. Considered by many to be one of the leading authorities on boxing in Canada, he is the current Vice-President of Boxing for the Society of North American Sports Historians and Researchers. His award-winning novel, Damballa, which centers around a fictional heavyweight title bout, is available at Amazon.com.
