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Andreas Hale
Former two-division world champion Danny Garcia went out with a bang in his “Farewell to Brooklyn” with a vicious fourth-round knockout of Danny Gonzalez at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Garcia (38-4, 22 KOs) landed his trademark left hook and flattened an overmatched Gonzalez (22-5-1, 7 KOs) 45 seconds into the fourth round of their scheduled 10-round fight at 154 pounds. Gonzalez crumbled to the canvas with his ankle folding awkwardly beneath him. He attempted to beat the count but fell back down as referee Harvey Dock waved the fight off.
Garcia, 37, was the first fighter to headline a boxing event at Barclays Center back in 2012 when he knocked out Mexican legend Erik Morales with a left hook in the fourth round. Thirteen years later, Garcia landed the same punch in the same round against a different Mexican opponent for his final fight in Barclays, which he promoted under his Swift Promotions banner.
Garcia improved to 8-2 at Barclays, and although he had his final fight in Brooklyn, Garcia said there’s a “high chance” that his boxing career will continue.
As for the fight, there wasn’t much standing in the way of Garcia as he hurt Gonzalez in the opening minute of the fight. The fighting spirit was quickly drained from Gonzalez as he transitioned from fighter to survivor against Garcia.
“I noticed I hurt him, but for some reason my timing fell a little bit off,” Garcia said. “So, I’m like, OK, let me just settle down for the next couple rounds and work behind my jab, and then when he stops moving his feet, I can try to catch him.”
Gonzalez, who fought for the first time above welterweight, had no answers for Garcia and was caught flush when “Swift” set his feet and fired a left hook that landed squarely on his chin to end the night.
“I already knew what he was trying to do,” Garcia said. “Everybody thinks I’m flat-footed. They could just box around me like it’s easy, but when you’re in there with me, it’s a whole different ball game.”
Garcia is back in the win column after suffering a stoppage loss to current WBA middleweight champion Erislandy Lara last September.