Danny “Swift” Garcia brutalized Rod Salka with an unforgiving left hook to the head at the 2:31 mark of the second round as the referee, Salka’s corner and Garcia’s left simultaneously ended the fight. The Philadelphia native raised his record to 29-0 with the 17th knockout of his career in front of a crowd of 7,012 that included the legendary Bernard Hopkins, Adrien Broner, Zab Judah, and Peter Quillin at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Garcia spoke after the fight about his impressive win. “As far as the fight, I did what I had to do…if I had took him lightly he probably would have come in here and upset me,” he said.
Some thought the skill level of the two opponents would lead to a mismatch, but Garcia had a different mindset, adding, “I didn’t think it was going to be an easy fight.”
Jadakiss from Da Lox led Garcia to the ring with a performance of his song “The Champ Is Here,” after Salka entered with the sounds of “Juicy” by The Notorious B.I.G., but the Philadelphia native didn’t need “One More Chance” after getting his native Pennsylvanian in trouble in round two.
In earlier televised matches, which were aired live on Showtime, Brooklyn native Daniel Jacobs defeated Jarrod Fletcher by TKO in the fifth round to win the vacant WBA Middleweight World Championship, and Lamont Peterson defeated Edgar Santana in the 10th round to retain his IBF Junior Welterweight World Title.
So, who will Garcia fight next? He said he is willing to fight anyone. With his increased popularity, there are plenty of opponents who would want to step in the ring with the undefeated boxing star. Hopefully we will see Garcia in the ring with another undefeated star in the near future.
