Danny Garcia (boxer)

Danny Óscar Garcia (born March 20, 1988) is an American professional boxer.

Garcia made his professional debut on November 17, 2007, at the Borgata Hotel Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey against Mike Denby.

He opened up by throwing power shots, but it was a short right that sent Denby to the canvas.

Another right put Denby down again in a neutral corner.

Garcia moved in for the knockout, and sent Denby down for the third and final time with a right-left combination.

After the third knockdown, the referee waved the bout over.

His next fight took place on the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather Jr..–Ricky Hatton superfight on December 8, 2007, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Garcia defeated Jesús Villareal by second-round technical knockout.

On January 11, 2008, at the Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa in Cabazon, California, Garcia defeated Marlo Córtez by second-round knockout.

With precise accurate punches, he disabled Cortéz, dropping him with a left hook early in the second round, forcing the referee to stop the contest.

On March 15, 2008, at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Garcia fought Charles Wade.

He utilized his speed and quickness to get close to Wade before blasting him with a left hook to knock him out.

In his fifth professional fight, Garcia fought Guadalupe Díaz, on April 19, 2008, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

He hurt Díaz early in the fight with a barrage of punches.

The referee was forced to stop the fight after Díaz was on Wobbly legs.

His next fight took place on May 3, 2008, at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California against Julio Gamboa.

Garcia was in command of the fight, using his fast hands and good power to win by unanimous decision.

On the undercard of the Bernard Hopkins–Kelly Pavlik fight for the world middleweight championship at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, Garcia stopped Dean Nash by technical knockout after three knockdowns in the third round.

He survived a tough fight with Ashley Theophane in February 2010, coming away with a split-decision victory.

Garcia knocked out faded contender Mike Arnaoutis in four rounds later in the year.

In his next contest held in April 2011, he defeated former lightweight titlist Nate Campbell.

On August 15, 2011, Garcia won the vacant NABO Jr. welterweight belt in Los Angeles fighting on the HBO PPV undercard of Hopkins vs. Dawson II, on a split decision over former champion Kendall Holt.

It was announced that Garcia would get his first world title opportunity, challenging Mexican legend and Ring Top 10 light welterweight, Érik Morales (52-7, 36 KOs) for the WBC super lightweight championship in another chapter of the infamous "Puerto Rico vs. Mexico" boxing rivalry.

He has held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the unified WBA (Super), WBC, Ring magazine and lineal light welterweight titles between 2012 and 2015, and the WBC welterweight title from 2016 to 2017.

The fight took place on March 24, 2012, at the Reliant Arena in Houston, Texas.

The fight was originally scheduled to take place on January 28, but was postponed because Morales had emergency gallbladder surgery.

Morales came in two pounds over the contracted limit and was subsequently stripped by the WBC of his title.

Thus, the title was only at stake for Garcia.

Morales was fined $50,000 ($25,000 per pound) which was given to Garcia.

Morales earned a $1 million purse, while Garcia was due to make $175,000.

This increased to $225,000 following the fines levied against Morales.

As of August 2020, he is ranked as the world's sixth best active welterweight by The Ring, seventh by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and eighth by BoxRec.

Garcia was born in North Philadelphia to Puerto Rican parents.

His mother was from Bayamón and his father was from Naguabo.

His father, Ángel, was also a boxer who introduced him to boxing, taking him to Philadelphia's Harrowgate Boxing Club when he was ten years old, which was the minimum age allowed by local law for a minor to train.

Ángel has since been Danny's primary boxing coach.

Having been raised in the city with the second-largest Puerto Rican community in the United States, Danny identified with his heritage, stating early in his career the desire to become the "next great Puerto Rican fighter".

Danny Garcia admired Boxing Hall of Famer Carlos Ortiz as his favorite boxer and considered Ortiz's fight against Lenny Matthews in Philadelphia among the most memorable he had ever witnessed.

Garcia finished his amateur career with 107 wins 13 losses.

Garcia was born with a sixth toe on his right foot which he was embarrassed of as a child, but jokingly says that it gives him a competitive advantage to stay on balance during fights.