DANNY GARCIA, a former two-division champion, returned from a WBC title defeat to Shawn Porter in September with a seventh-round stoppage of Adrian Granados at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California tonight (April 20).
Garcia, 35-2 (21), dropped Granados three times en route to recording the TKO win and, with the victory, has put himself right in the mix for fights against the likes of Keith Thurman, Manny Pacquiao, Errol Spence Jr and Terence Crawford, as well as a rematch with Porter.
Granados, 20-7-2 (14), was deemed a solid opponent for Garcia based on his heart and durability but was no match for the heavy-handed American and found himself outgunned from the outset. Dropped twice in the second round, and once in the fifth, the Mexican was eventually stopped for the first time in his career just after the halfway mark.
“I think the statement was I had to come in here and knock him out,” Garcia said. “A regular decision wouldn’t be enough. I had to be the first man to stop him and I did that tonight.
“When Danny Garcia is at his best, no one can beat him. I got a little comfortable in the past and didn’t give that extra mile, but I put in my 110 percent and this is what you get when you get 110 percent of Danny Garcia, one of the best fighters in the world.”
Asked who he would like to fight next, Garcia revealed a shortlist of a few but showed no real preference as to which of the elite welterweights is placed towards the top.
“I hope I didn’t scare him away,” he said having been told Manny Pacquiao was an interested observer. “Definitely, I would love [that] fight and would definitely love a rematch with Thurman and Porter or Errol Spence.”
