Tonight at 9:00 p.m. ET, a boxing card from Bayamon, Puerto Rico featuring Danny Garcia will get underway. Garcia hasn't been seen in the ring since upsetting the "Argentine Machine" Lucas Matthysse on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather vs. Canelo Alvarez, but he'll be looking to further his run as the only champion of Puerto Rico in the sport these days. Live stream the fight by clicking this link.
Garcia may not be from Puerto Rico, but he identifies with the culture in every way. Tonight's battle with Mauricio Herrera is going to be one of his proudest moments, being able to fight in front of his people. Herrera's trainer Willie Silva has mocked the billing of this bout as a "homecoming," since Garcia was born and raised in Philadelphia.
"Danny Garcia's parents claim he is Puerto Rican, but he is not a Puerto Rican, he's from Philadelphia. He doesn't even speak Spanish," Silva said.
"I am a Puerto Rican. I could have been born on the moon, but I'm still Puerto Rican," Garcia said. "I was a Trinidad fan as a little kid. I've seen all his fights. I've seen Miguel for his whole career. I've seen a lot of the great fighters, so I've always been a fan of the Puerto Rican fighters and I'm happy to be one myself."
After Rocky Martinez was knocked out by Mikey Garcia, there were no more Puerto Rican-born champions. Now, Garcia must carry the mantle for the boxing-mad island.
"I don't think it's fair that you can say I'm not a Puerto Rican fighter because I wasn't born in Puerto Rico, when my blood is Puerto Rican," Garcia said. "So I had to let the fans know, 'Hey, I'm a Puerto Rican fighter and that's just the way it is,' and that's why we got this fight in Puerto Rico, to solidify me as a Puerto Rican champion."
The fight may also be the final time fans see Garcia at 140 lbs. He has essentially beaten every fighter of note in the division, and may move on to more big-money fights at welterweight.
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