By Hector Echevarria
The cities of New York and Philly have always been separated by the stretch of the New Jersey Turnpike. Close in driving distance, Philadelphia and New York have always had a rivalry in the four major professional sports; Phillies vs. Mets, 76ers vs. Knicks, Eagles vs. Giants, and Flyers vs. Rangers. Now, it’s carried over to boxing.
Danny “Swift” Garcia and Zab Judah have added their names to the hat of the Philadelphia vs. New York sports rivalry. Both men are coming of a big win; Garcia fresh off of his upset knockout victory over Amir Khan and Judah several months ago over talkative prospect Vernon Paris.
This fight has been talked about months ago, by fans and media back when Garcia won the WBC title against faded veteran Erik Morales and Zab beat Paris earlier in the year, but was quickly dismissed by the two men. Today this fight has been gaining a full head of steam with Judah sending out tweets saying, “All the kid has to do is sign and I’ll knock him out”and“Garcia vs. Judah; Al Haymon get it done,” referring to Danny’s manager.
If this fight gets made it has the making of a classic New York vs. Philadelphia showdown. Both men have a mutual respect for each other but that is as far as it goes. With the two men being in the top 5 of the junior welterweight division, that alone should make this interesting. It would put rising star against establish star, young lion vs. wisely fox, cheesecake vs cheesesteak, brotherly love vs. the city that never sleeps, with all equally Philly vs. NYC.
This fight can be staged anywhere between Philadelphia, New York and New Jersey; but this fight belongs in Atlantic City, NJ at the famous Boardwalk Hall Arena. A rawkus crowd of half Brooklynites and Puerto Ricans screaming for their fighters should be make for one heck of a night.
Right now, it’s Judah that’s been doing the talking while Garcia is still in celebratory mode after the win against Khan. But rest assure, he’s hearing the grumbling from his fan base about this potential fight. It has even gotten to the point where Garcia has blocked Judah on twitter to not see the tweets of Judah calling him out. What’s up with that? There have also been rumblings that Danny’s dad, Angel has been answering Garcia’s phone and denying interview requests. There was even an article posted on a boxing website Garcia should be on line to face Floyd Mayweather next. Aren’t we moving a little too fast here for the young star?
Let’s talk about a fight that makes financial and boxing sense, and that is Garcia vs. Judah. For the amount of attention this match has been receiving, it would be a crime for Main Events and Golden Boy not to look into making this fight for the fans. With the 4 New York major pro teams besting Philadelphia teams right now, this could be another feather in NYC’s cap, or Garcia breaking The Big Apple’s winning streak this year!
