Boxing is one of the most culturally diverse sports in the world. Each nation has an icon, a figure that comes to mind when you speak of that country whether it is a past fighter or a present fighter(depending on your knowledge of the sport) you know of someone.
Some fighters may be born in a country but their heritage is from another country (example Oscar De La Hoya). Which nation that fighter represents is up to them but in most cases the fighter will represent both and it may work for them.
Danny Garcia is an American born fighter but his blood line is 100% Puerto Rican. He has always represented both countries throughout his career and has steadily built up his fan base in the U.S. On March 15th Garcia will have his first ever pro fight in Puerto Rico which should build him up within the island should he win.
But why fight in Puerto Rico? Some may argue that Danny is an American but Garcia’s father Angel says people fail to realise that Puerto Rico is part of America and fighting on the island has made Angel very proud.
“I felt good for Danny,” said Angel. “I felt happy for him. He deserves it. I felt good for myself too because I’m 100% Rican and they can say whatever they want to say about Danny; that he ain’t Rican because he was born in the United States and all but Puerto Rico belongs to America. People don’t understand that. Puerto Rico is American.”
Danny is guaranteed to build fans when he fights on the island. Some will become fans and some won’t. It’s life and you can’t win at everything but Angel insists that even though it will be great to have a Puerto Rican fan base for his son the main goal is to have all races on board for his son.
“I want Danny’s fan base to be all kinds of people that love boxing. We got more Puerto Ricans in America than in Puerto Rico. We don’t need just Puerto Ricans we need all races.”
