By Daniel Gonzalez

Brooklyn, NY – In his 8th appearance as a headliner at the the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, former two division champion, Danny “Swift” Garcia (36-2, 22 KOs), cruised to a unanimous decision victory over Ukrainian southpaw Ivan Redkach (23-5-1, 18 KOs).  Judges Don Trella and Glenn Feldman both scored the bout 117-111, while Judge Tony Paolillo scored it 118-110, all in favor of Garcia.

Garcia, was originally slated to take on IBF and WBC world champion Errol Spence, Jr. (26-0, 21 KOs).  However, that highly anticipated welterweight clash had to be put on hold, as result of Spence Jr.’s recent car accident.  Instead, the Philadelphia native, who calls the Barclays Center his second home, fought another southpaw in Redkach.  Presumably, to keep him sharp for a potential matchup with Manny Paquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) or Spence, Jr., who are also southpaws.  Redkach, who recently knocked out Devon Alexander and was on a three fight win streak, was clearly overmatched in the fight.  Garcia easily controlled the pace and distance in the fight.  It visibly frustrated Redkach’s ability to land anything significant on Garcia.  So much so, he resorted to biting Garcia’s shoulder in the 8th round. A foul that referee Benjy Esteves could not see from where he was positioned.

In the post fight interview, Garcia made it clear to Showtime’s Jim Gray, that he would like a fight with either Manny Paquiao or Errol Spence in the near future.  Garcia indicated that he he was somewhat affected by the 9 month layoff and the 25 pounds he had to shed to make weight, but indicated that he felt good overall.  Garcia also added that a rematch with Keith Thurman or a fight with Mikey Garcia, were matchups that he would be interested in.

My assessment of Garcia is that at 31, he is still a top level fighter.  He has clearly matured both as a person and as a fighter. Garcia demonstrated both through his preparation for this fight and in his performance over the 12 rounds, that he is focused on regaining a welterweight title.

Hopefully, Garcia will return to ring swiftly, so we can all see whether he can once again be considered one of the elite fighters in the coveted welterweight division.  We all have to admit, Garcia’s losses to both Shawn Porter and Keith Thurman, were very close affairs.  If he had just won a round or two more in each of those bouts, we would all be clamoring for him to take on Terrance Crawford or Errol Spence.  Stylistically, a fight with Manny Paquiao would be a great one to see.  Garcia has unquestionably paid his dues in the sport of boxing to earn a shot to get in the ring with the legendary Filipino senator.

Daniel Gonzalez is a Senior Boxing Writer. Dan writes for many publications including Boxing Action Magazine, www.BoxingAction24.com and www.SideStepBoxing.com