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Danny Garcia Shines In Super Welterweight Debut Earning
Decision Victory Over Jose Benavidez Jr.
Photos: Amanda Westcott - SHOWTIME
Two-division world champion Danny
“Swift Garcia dominated in his super welterweight debut
Saturday night, cruising to a majority decision victory over
exciting contender Jose Benavidez Jr. in the SHOWTIME main
event from Barclays Center in Brooklyn headlining a Premier
Boxing Champions event. He saved perhaps his most expressive
moment post-fight when he broke down in the ring discussing
his struggles with mental health with SHOWTIME reporter Jim
Gray, showing the authenticity that has made him such a
fan-favorite in Brooklyn.
“I did take a break going through mental things, things went
dark, I went through anxiety, deep depression, just trying
to be strong,” said a visibly emotional Garcia. “It was the
pressure of life, being a good dad, just letting it out
right now, because it was all stuck inside. It rained on me
for a year and a half and the only way to do better was to
fight again. I’m a fighter. If you battle anxiety and
depression, you can get out of it, that’s what I did today.
I fought.”
Philadelphia’s Garcia (37-3, 21 KOs) has become a staple at
Barclays Center ever since headlining the arena’s first
boxing event in 2012, and his return on Saturday night
against Benavidez (27-2-1, 18 KOs), saw him pick up his
seventh victory in Brooklyn. (Watch seventh-round highlight
HERE)
After runs as a world champion at 147 and 140 pounds, Garcia
debuted at 154 pounds after a nearly 20-month layoff. Known
as a counterpunching expert, Garcia went on the attack early
and often, targeting Benavidez’s body on his way to landing
a career-high of 153 body shots according to CompuBox.
Garcia’s superior hand and foot speed left Benavidez
trailing him for much of the night, looking to land right
hands over Garcia’s vaunted left hook.
Benavidez best moment came in round nine when he connected
on one of those right hands and popped Garcia’s head back,
but he was unable to capitalize on the attack enough to
change the trajectory of the fight.
“I’m happy with my performance,” said Benavidez. “I feel
like I did good. I’m fighting in his backyard, one of the
best, I took his punches like they were nothing. I thought I
won the fight. But it is what it is, a loss makes you
stronger.
“It’s tough, things don’t always go your way, there are ups
and downs. I try to be positive, like when the doctor said I
would never walk again. I didn’t let that get to me. I kept
on going.”
Overall Garcia ran up a 233 to 117 edge in punches landed
and owned a 31% connect rate compared to Benavidez’s 20%.
After 12 rounds, Garcia had done enough to earn the decision
by scores of 117-11, 116-112 and a surprising 114-114. After
the fight, Garcia credited his father and trainer Angel
Garcia with staying by his side throughout his battle with
anxiety and depression.
“Angel was there with me the whole way,” said Garcia. “I’m
nothing without this man. I thank him every day. People ask
me all the time, why do I fight? I make a lot of money. Why
does Warren Buffett still make money? I’m a fighter. This is
what I do, what I love to do.”
Garcia also added two intriguing potential future opponents
he would like to face.
“I’d like the rematch with Keith Thurman, he took my ‘0,’”
said Garcia. “I’ll also take [WBA Middleweight Champion]
Erislandy Lara for the middleweight title at 154 pounds.”
In the co-main event, Turkish Olympian Ali Eren Demirezen
(17-1, 12 KOs) scored a career-best victory via a unanimous
decision (97-93 twice, 96-94) over Polish star and Brooklyn
fan-favorite Adam Kownacki (20-3, 15 KOs) after 10 rounds of
heavyweight action.
“I truly love fighting in the U.S. and I love New York so I
said before you will see me more,” said Demirezen. “I was
nervous because he’s a strong fighter and I could have been
much better, but it’s my first time here and he’d fought
here before.”
In his 11th fight at Barclays Center, Kownacki rode the
urging of his hometown fans to a fast start as he targeted
Demirezen’s body frequently in round one. As the bout
progressed, Demirezen flipped the script and ended up being
the more aggressive fighter, throwing 915 punches to
Kownacki’s 851, while landing 239 power punches compared to
Kownacki’s 186.
After back-to-back losses to Robert Helenius, Kownacki had
hoped to return to the win column and back to his standing
amongst the heavyweight contenders, but was turned back by
the determined Demirezen, who stopped Gerald Washington in
January.
“I’m a bit rusty, I think he was getting off first in the
exchanges, I didn’t’ sit down as much, I think the rust
played a part, being out so long,” said Kownacki. “I was out
of the ring since last October, camp was good but I don’t
know, I was letting him get off first, I wasn’t moving my
feet. I went back to the old me instead of the first few
rounds when I was doing good.
“I have two kids, I’ll have a long talk with my wife to see
what I want to do. I’ve had so many fights here, so many
great memories, I don’t want to go out like a loser. I would
like another fight to leave my fans with a win.”
In round 10, Kownacki, with blood dripping from his left
eye, again was able to bring his legion of fans to their
feet as he put together a courageous effort in rocking
Demirezen with a right hand, forcing Demirezen to
temporarily fight on his back foot. However, Demirezen
recovered to win the round, and sweep the last two rounds on
all three cards to clinch the victory.
“I promised everyone a war, and that’s what the people got,”
said Demirezen. “I beat him in his hometown. I want to be an
inspiration and a role model for Turkish youngsters that
were watching this fight. I hope I made them proud.”
In the telecast opener, unbeaten rising star Gary Antuanne
Russell (16-0, 16 KOs) delivered a sixth-round TKO (:50)
over former two-division Rances Barthelemy (29-2-1, 15 KOs)
in their super lightweight clash to keep his perfect
knockout streak intact. Russell landed a clean leaping right
hook that dropped Barthelemy early in the round, and while
Barthelemy was able to get to his feet, referee Shada
Murdaugh waived off the action, drawing boisterous
complaints from Barthelemy, his corner and the crowd in
attendance. (Watch video highlight HERE)
“I know Rances is a high-grade, class athlete and he wanted
to continue,” said Russell, who revealed post fight that he
hurt his left hand in the fifth round. “Emotions were high.
Whether we are bruised or beaten, as a warrior, you always
want to continue but the referee was doing his job and if he
was allowed to continue it would have been the same outcome.
I would have gotten him.
“In the sixth round I had him backing up. I knew he was
looking for his right cross and I caught him backing up and
I shot my hook and put him down, he was buzzed but he wanted
to keep going. He’s a warrior.”
“This is the most bitter loss of my career,” said
Barthelemy. “I’m destroyed. Don’t get me wrong, this wasn’t
Russell’s fault at all. I’m a veteran, and I had been
through something like that plenty of times in my career.
The referee treated me like a rookie instead of the two-time
world champion I am.”
The bout featured intriguing action from two skilled
southpaws, as Russell and Barthelemy went toe-to-toe in a
compelling round one that saw both men throw over 60 punches
and each eat big shots. As the action progressed, Barthelemy
was able to find success countering the hard-charging
Russell, who dictated much of the fight’s pace.
The fighters threw within five total punches of each other
per round across the bout, including combining to throw 361
power punches out of 515 total thrown. Barthelemy expressed
his displeasure with the referee’s decision post-fight and
staked his claim to a rematch against Russell. At the time
of the stoppage, the score totals were 49-46 twice and 48-47
in favor of Russell.
“No, they shouldn’t have stopped it,” said Barthelemy. “I
felt good. It was a good shot, I’m not denying that, but
they shouldn’t have stopped it. I got up and told him I was
fine and good to go. Of course I want the rematch with a
different referee.”
Fighting for the first time since the passing of his father
and lifelong trainer Gary Sr., Russell was led in his corner
by his brother and former WBC Featherweight World Champion
Gary Russell Jr., as he looks to continue his ascent in the
140-pound division.
“I want to tell my father up above I did it for him, we’re
going to keep it going for pops,” said Russell. “This is
something my dad instilled in us, no matter what you go
through in life and death, two things are inevitable, he
raised us to be men and well-rounded men. Being thorough
means to be prepared, and he prepared us for boxing and for
life outside of boxing. I thank my father and I did what I
had to do.”
In live streaming action prior to the telecast, SHOWTIME
BOXING COUNTDOWN saw top middleweight contender Sergiy
Derevyanchenko (14-4, 10 KOs) cruise to a unanimous decision
over Joshua Conley (17-4-1, 11 KOs) by scores of 99-91 twice
and 98-92 after 10 rounds.
Bouts streamed live on the SHOWTIME Sports YouTube
channel and SHOWTIME Boxing Facebook page also featured
exciting rising prospect Vito Mielnicki Jr. (12-1, 8
KOs) earning a sixth-round stoppage over Jimmy Williams
(18-9-2, 6 KOs) in their super welterweight bout. The
20-year-old Mielnicki battered his opponent throughout
the frame until Williams’ corner stopped the fight 2:12
into the round.
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