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Two-division world champion Danny “Swift” Garcia will step into the ring for the final time at Barclays Center this Saturday, October 18, nearly 13 years to the day after he headlined the first ever main event at the venue, as he takes on Danny Gonzalez headlining a jam-packed Swift Promotions card. Tickets for the live event are available NOW through Ticketmaster.com.
With fight night nearly here, Garcia reflected on how he felt before stepping into the ring for that first main event in 2012, as he defended his championship against Mexican legend Erik Morales.
“When they first called to say I was gonna be main event at Barclays, I was excited,” said Garcia, who has far and away the most appearances in the ring at Barclays amongst all fighters in the venue’s history. “It was something new, so I didn’t know what to expect. When it was sold out, that was it, it was history. I was a little nervous walking to the ring, but I felt good. I felt strong and I felt like nothing could stop me.”
Throughout a career that’s seen him amass a 7-2 record at Barclays Center, Garcia singled out three specific fights that stand out above the rest.
“My favorite fight at Barclays Center was probably Erik Morales, because I knocked him out,” said Garcia. “Also the Zab Judah fight. That was a hell of a rivalry. The Keith Thurman fight too because it was unification and a huge fight.”
Garcia’s fight against Thurman was not only an extremely rare championship unification clash between undefeated welterweight champions, but it was a box office smash as it set a record at the time for the highest grossing non-Nets sporting event and most attended boxing match in Barclays Center history.
His rivalry with Judah was also led to not only one of Barclay’s biggest boxing nights, but one of the most remembered promotions in recent boxing history (relive the rivalry HERE via All The Smoke Fight). Due to the extreme animosity that led up to fight night, Danny’s father and trainer, the always outspoken Angel Garcia, believes that was his best performance in Brooklyn.
“The Zab Judah performance was your best performance because of everything that happened leading up to the fight,” said Angel. “We went back and forth at the press conference, I told him to ‘take off that Janet Jackson’ hat. It kicked everything off, they tried to pop up on us at the Modell’s. They wanted to kick my ass. Everywhere we went, they popped up. Danny took care of it in the ring though.”
In addition to those three fights, Garcia’s Barclays Center history includes three consecutive fights that took place at the arena between 2014 and 2015, all three victories for Garcia. After blasting out Rod Salka in August 2014, he bested Lamont Peterson in an April 2015 battle of champions, before taking down another Brooklyn native, as he stopped Paulie Malignaggi in the ninth-round in August 2015.
His next two contests at Barclays Center saw Danny drop a pair of narrow decisions, in fights that were true toss ups, first to Thurman in March 2017, followed by a Shawn Porter bout in September 2018. Garcia got back to his winning ways in the county of Kings however, dispatching of Ivan Redkach in January 2020 before his most recent Brooklyn triumph, a July 2022 victory over Jose Benavidez Jr.
Now, as he looks to close his 10th and final Barclays Center fight in style, Garcia has promised the fans that have supported him for years one last memorable night.
“My favorite thing about the fans is the atmosphere and the love,” said Garcia. “I appreciate all the years that the fans have supported me. Come out on Saturday night one last time, I’m gonna give you a hell of a show.”
