Danny Garcia Loves Crushin’ Dreams And His Rocky Balboa Underdog Status

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    (July 15, 2012 – Source: PacificCoastNews.com)

    Rocky Balboa is a fictional character, small-time boxer who seems to be going nowhere in life. He works day-in and day-out as a collector for a loan shark and fights in sleazy clubs for low-paid rewards, to which Rocky is mocked and told that he’s nothing but a ‘bum’, especially by gym trainer Mickey Goldmill (Burgess Meredith). At the same time, Rocky unsuccessfully courts Adrian Pennino (Talia Shire), a painfully shy woman with an alcoholic brother, Paulie (Burt Young). But when heavyweight champion of the world Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) chooses Rocky at random as his opponent in a title fight, Rocky realizes he now has the chance to prove he is not worthless. With Adrian as his support and Mickey becoming his trainer and manager, Rocky fights for his self-respect (Credit Wikipedia).

    Danny Garcia and Balboa have things in common. However, Garcia wasn’t the journeyman that Balboa was and Garcia did have a more distinguished career in comparisons to the fictional Balboa character. The comparison stems from both being constant underdogs with something to prove. Balboa eventually shed that stigma after his performance against the heavyweight champion. Garcia was labeled a “good basic fighter” until his biggest win to date which earned him the WBA Super Champion and unifying the WBC Jr Welterweight titles.

    Garcia first big win this year was over the legend Eric “El Terrible” Morales. Instead of receiving praise for the win, he received criticism from critics stating it wasn’t the same Morales or that he was old and just didn’t have anything left.

    So much like Rocky Balboa, Danny Garcia needed his Apollo creed moment, he needed a recognized fighter who had been tested and was in his prime to offer him the opportunity to prove to the boxing public that he was the real deal. That day would come when then WBA Super champion Amir “King” Khan would challenge Garcia to a unification bout with both their respected titles on the line. It was a battle that would take place on the grandest stage in Las Vegas and televised on HBO Championship boxing to be viewed around the world. There the young kid from Philly — just like Rocky — was given the opportunity that he so badly needed to prove his worth in the boxing public.

    “I didn’t take any of that personal at all because if you look back at it, I don’t remember the last time he knocked somebody out. So I was like, man I don’t know who this guy thinks he is, he’s talking about fighting [Tim] Bradley fighting [Floyd] Mayweather [Jr] and we already matched up and it’s like three weeks before the fight. There I knew he was over looking me and he was in for a shocker,” stated Garcia when we spoke of the comments Khan made publicly on how he would beat Garcia and teach his dad that there are Pakistanis that can fight.

    The media had made out Angel Garcia as some sort of racist for giving his opinion of Khan but it didn’t affect Danny. “No it doesn’t bother me because I guess I proved that my dad was right, everything that he was saying at the end of the day, it was one of those things where my dad was talking. If I lost they would call him an idiot but because I won after the fight they’re calling him a legend. I guess it’s one of things they say, he really did back it up and he’s doing his thing, you hated him before now you love him after. I don’t know man, let my dad be him and I do me and we really don’t care what people say,” added Garcia.

    Aside from Khan over looking Garcia, the odd makers had him a 6 to 1 underdog. Underdog is a word Garcia has not only grown accustomed to but also a word he has embraced. “I crushed a lot of dreams, man I just messed up 25 million dollars for [Amir] Khan because he supposed to get the [Floyd] Mayweather fight. I destroyed that dream right there. At the end of the day, it’s fighters out here that can fight, problem is they’re not over-hyped, I’m not one of those fighters that’s over hyped. That’s why I would always be the underdog because I never got promotion I deserved like other fighters. Being promoted and everywhere you go, you see a bulletin board or commercial. I’m not one of those fighters. I’m from Philly, so I guess it’s a difference from making a champion and making yourself a champion. I’m just taking it the hard route. Whoever you put in front of me I’m going to destroy man. I told my manager you don’t have to baby me, I’m a grown man, I’m going to go in there [Ring] do what I got to do, you don’t have to pick the right fights or none of that. I think that’s the difference between me and a lot of fighters, I don’t care who I fight, I’m capable of beating any guy man,” explained Garcia.

    Garcia has become the new modern day Rocky by taking on opponent after opponent with no breaks in between, defying the odds and pulling the win off in spectacular fashion. “It’s a dream come true because I made it happen, I prove to the world I’m the best, a lot of fighters claim they champions but never beat nobody. They so called super stars and never beat anybody; how can you be a super star but you never beat nobody in their prime, like how I did. I beat Khan, after I won the fight they say [HBO Commentators] Danny Garcia is a good basic fighter, if you call that a basic fighter. I tell all the kids around the world, stick to the basics because it gets you far, but everybody else they beat a bum [speaks in 3rd person] oh he’s the next super star, come on man, be real,” said Garcia.

    As for Amir Khan this marks his second consecutive lost and second KO lost. Many feel he will not be able to rebuild from this loss to Danny Garcia. There are also rumors of a possible split from long time trainer Freddie Roach who helped Khan come back after his first round destruction at the hands of Breidis Prescott years back. Rumors are flying of a possible clash in December with the undefeated Joan Guzman, a route many feel shouldn’t be a comeback fight after a knockout lost.

    “I don’t think his career is over, he has to rebuild a little bit. First, I think he should get out of 140 [Jr Welterweight Division], he’s been in some tough fights in there with [Marcos] Maidana, me, [Lamont] Peterson, he’s been in a couple tough fights. I think he struggles to make the weight so I think he should move up to 147 [Welterweight], get a few fights and then start getting big fights again. You know some times when you move up in weight it strengthens your chin.”

    Many felt the fight with Khan could have been stopped after the first knock down where Khan looked the most vulnerable and received the benefit of the doubt from the ref, Garcia added, “I thought it was over, when I went back and looked at the fight, man that was like a 30 count (laughing), he gave him [Khan] an 8 count, a full 8 count then he asked him if he was ok like 3 times [speaks in 3rd person]. Are you ok? Are you ok? Are you ok? Then he was like walk to me walk to me again, are you ok? Walk to me again. I was just like let this man out so I can finish him real quick, but man that might have been the longest count of my life. I guess when its big fights like that, they want to give the guy a chance, so they gave him a chance,” Garcia said.

    The Rocky mentality is in Garcia. The will to be great and continue to challenge himself, the hunger to be successful in the sport and to support his family means there’s no days off. Even after the best win of the young man’s career he’s still grounded and focused. “I still feel the same, I still feel hungry, that’s the main reason why I’m a champion but I’m not rich, I still got a lot to prove. I’m not comfortable in life yet. I was the underdog these last few fights. I took the pay cut from these last two fights, so I’m still hungry like I’m not even the champion and I’m ready to destroy whoever they put in front of me. I still feel like the underdog and I’m going to always be the underdog.”

     

    For Full Audio Of This Interview Click Here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thaboxingvoiceradioshow/2012/08/23/anselmo-moreno-angel-garcia-trainer-sharif-bogere