Boxing
Saying goodbye to Danny Garcia, Brooklyn’s adopted son
Published
5 months agoon
In an evening billed as Brooklyn’s final bow, Danny Garcia (38-4, 22 KO) rightly provided an encore of his first fight at the Barclays Center. Garcia used his trademark left hook to knock out Danny Gonzalez (22-5-1, 7 KOs) in the fourth round, scoring a knockout in the same round with the same punch as in his first fight at the brand modern Barclays Center twelve years ago against Mexican legend Erik Morales.
For Danny Garcia, it was goodbye to Brooklyn. For local boxing fans, it was a farewell to a consummate professional who delighted fans during over 40 professional fights. Garcia is originally from Philadelphia, but the Philadelphia native made Brooklyn his adoptive home, and his fight against Daniel Gonzalez was Garcia’s 10th appearance at the Barclays Center.
Like Brooklyn’s iconic architectural masterpiece, Danny Garcia helped introduce a modern generation of boxing fans to Modern York’s largest borough. On why Garcia felt so comfortable making Brooklyn his home away from home, as the Beastie Boys sang in An Open Letter to Modern York:
Brownstones, water towers, trees, skyscrapers
Writers, prize fighters and Wall Street traders
We meet in subway cars
Diversity united, whoever you are
…
During his last appearance at the Barclays Center, Garcia was accompanied to the ring by two top teenage fighters, Stephen Fulton and Teofilmo Lopez, hailing from Philadelphia and Brooklyn, respectively. Whether this was the last fight of Garcia’s career, or whether it was fought exclusively in Brooklyn, remains an open question.
So many fans have supported Danny Garcia over the years because they have witnessed the fierce determination with which he pursues his craft. While he’s not as thunderous and flashy as other boxers, Garcia simply keeps his head down, works difficult every day and lets the fight night results speak for themselves. If a Danny Garcia fight was on the card for the last decade, you knew you were going to get a quality, competitive fight.
Given the caliber of his resume, perhaps artists should start planning where in Brooklyn the Danny Garcia mural should be painted.
Garcia won his first world championship gold when he defeated Erik Morales in March 2012 to become the WBC super lightweight champion. In his first title defense, Garcia was a 4-to-1 underdog against Amir Khan. Despite suffering a cut to his right eye in the second round, Garcia knocked down Khan three times en route to a fourth-round TKO victory, forcing fight fans to take notice of Danny “Swift” Garcia.
Following his victory over Khan, Garcia fought a rematch with Eric Morales, headlining the first boxing event held at the brand modern Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Modern York. Garcia decisively won the rematch via fourth-round knockout, sending the legendary Morales into retirement with a venomous left hook.
Garcia was once again the underdog in his next title defense against Argentine Lucas Matthysse. At the time, Matthysse was the guy no one wanted to face, a relentless fighter who won by knockout 94% of the time. However, Garcia handled Matthysse in a way no one had done before, knocking down Matthysse for the first time in his professional career en route to a unanimous decision victory.
Garcia later became a second-division world champion by defeating Robert Guerrero to win the WBC welterweight championship in 2016.
During his career, Danny Garcia was 11-4 against current or former world champions, defeating contemporaries such as Zab Judah, Paulie Malignaggi and Lamont Peterson. Garcia lost by decisions to Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter and Errol Spence Jr.
Last year, Garcia tried to wrest the middleweight title from Erislanda Lara in an attempt to become a third-division world champion, which turned out to be a bridge too far. For Brooklyn fight fans, this was not a show that should have featured a great fighter like Garcia. Fortunately, that didn’t happen.
Whenever Danny Garcia retires from in-ring competition, he will remain in the fight as a full-time promoter with his company, Swift Promotions, which has landed on Saturday’s event. Let’s hope that in a boxing promotional environment with as much uncertainty and general consternation as ever lately, Danny Garcia will have a steady hand and a powerful presence. When exactly Garcia will hang up his mouthpiece to become a mouthpiece will be decided soon.
Although it was his final post-fight appearance in Brooklyn, Garcia was undecided on whether he would hang up the gloves for good. “I’m finally well and have a attractive family. I don’t know if I’m done yet.”
These are things everyone can be grateful for. Fans can also be grateful that Danny Garcia continues to be involved in boxing in some capacity.
Last update: 20/10/2025
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Boxing
Tyson Fury doubts whether the judges will give him victory over Oleksandr Usyk
Published
2 hours agoon
March 11, 2026
“I won the third fight,” Fury told Gareth A. Davies. “But the thing is, I know if he gets up at the end of the fight, I’m not going to make a decision. For me, it’s like, I might as well give him the fight before we even start boxing. Give him a W and I’ll give him an L.”
Usyk defeated Fury twice in 2024 in hard-fought championship fights that decided the undisputed heavyweight title. The Ukrainian’s victories transformed the division and left Fury trying to rebuild momentum in the final stage of his career.
When the discussion turned to the scoring of these fights, Fury made it clear that he still viewed the outcome differently from the official verdicts.
“And like I said, I thought I won that fight,” Fury said. “But you know what he did? That’s someone else’s opinion again.”
Fury’s comments suggest that from his perspective the debate surrounding these fights remains unresolved. Instead of treating the defeats as decisive setbacks, the former champion still doubts whether a third meeting would have produced a different outcome on the scorecards.
This lingering doubt keeps the trilogy discussion alive even as the heavyweight landscape moves forward with other matchups. Fury has talked about returning to winning form and then fighting main fights again, but his comments show that the controversy surrounding Usyk’s decision has not abated.
For Fury, the conclusion remains the same: if he doesn’t stop Usyk, he doubts the judges would award him the victory.
Olly Campbell is a boxing journalist covering this sport since 2014, providing reports from the ring and technical analyzes of the most essential fights. His work focuses on fighter tendencies, tactical adjustments and the details that shape high-level competition.
Boxing
The 0-40 with 36 KO heavyweight division returns under a up-to-date name, now 0-43
Published
4 hours agoon
March 10, 2026
World Boxing News first reported on Dominican fighter Alexis Rafael Castillo Sanchez after he set one of the most remarkable records in current boxing by losing his first 40 professional fights, 36 of them by knockout.
At that point, it seemed like the story was over. Castillo Sanchez’s career appeared to be over in 2018 after a long string of losses that spanned over a decade in the sport.
However, official fight records show that the boxer later returned to the ring under a completely different name in his 40s.
Since then, Castillo Sanchez has competed as Alexis de la Cruz Shephard, adding three more attacks to improve a record that was 0-40 when the case was first reviewed by WBN.
All three bouts ended in consecutive stoppage defeats, bringing the overall score to 0-43, with 39 losses by knockout.
For two of these latter defeats, there are no confirmed match stoppage details in the official records, meaning the exact moment or method of the knockout was never formally documented.
Name change
The change makes the situation even more unusual.
The boxer, previously known as Alexis Rafael Castillo Sanchez, has appeared on recent fight lists as Alexis de la Cruz Shephard, which is a significant change from the name under which he was recorded earlier in his career.
World Boxing News determined the career continued after reviewing opponents’ recent records, where matching biographical details ultimately revealed the same fighter was competing again years after the original report.
Latest fights
The three additional fights occurred between 2022 and 2024, during which time Shephard was competing between the ages of 45 and 47, according to records.
In April 2022, Shephard lost by TKO to Dario Duran Gonzalez in Moncion. Four months later, he returned to Monte Plata, where he suffered another defeat in the second round against Emille Gonzalez Lopez.
His last appearance was on December 18, 2024 in Santo Domingo, where Shephard was stopped in the opening round by Omar Alexander Rivera Cerda after suffering a shoulder injury.
Each fight followed a familiar pattern from the earlier part of his career, which had already seen dozens of early finals.
An extraordinary record
When WBN first considered the case, Castillo Sanchez’s record was already distinguished by the huge number of losses due to stoppages and the length of the series.
The fighter started his career in 2007 and competed in many weight classes before finally moving up to heavyweight.
During this period, he faced a wide range of opponents, from first-time prospects to seasoned professionals, rarely lasting beyond the early rounds.
Additional fights recorded under the pseudonym Alexis de la Cruz Shephard extended this streak even further, creating one of current boxing’s strangest records.
Time will tell if his career will last beyond 0-43.
About the author
Phil Jay is the editor-in-chief of World Boxing News (WBN) and a boxing veteran with over 15 years of experience. Read the full biography.
Boxing
Rolly Romero only sees one winner in Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao 2
Published
4 hours agoon
March 10, 2026
WBA welterweight world champion Rolando Romero presented his prediction for Floyd Mayweather’s rematch with Manny Pacquiao.
Two pound-for-pound legends will face off at the Sphere in Las Vegason September 19, and their second meeting was the highlight of a live event on Netflix.
Their first meeting, which ended with Mayweather winning by unanimous decision, took place in 2015 and became the most lucrative boxing gala of all time.
By then, former multi-division world champions were already considered to be past their prime, and Pacquiao in particular no longer had the speed and ferocity for which he had always been known.
It must be admitted, however, that the Filipino has played eight professional matches since their first meeting, and his last assignment was in July against Mario Barrios.
And despite a nearly four-year layoff following his loss to Yordenis Ugas, Pacquiao was able to hold a controversial draw against the then-WBC welterweight champion.
Meanwhile, Mayweather hasn’t fought professionally since a 10th-round victory over Conor McGregor in 2017, but his dominant victory over “Pac Man” more than two years earlier led many to predict a similar result in the rematch.
One of them is Romero, who told “The Last Stand” podcast. that he cannot see Pacquiao, at the age of 47, making any drastic changes to his original performance.
“Floyd wins. And whatever happens, happens. It was meant to be. Whoever God wants to win, will win.”
“But what would be the difference [to] first fight? Was there really anything else Pacquiao could have had? [done]?”
Mayweather, now 49, has competed in a series of exhibition matches since his victory over McGregor, but now he is preparing to put his 50-0 record on the line.
Tyson Fury doubts whether the judges will give him victory over Oleksandr Usyk
The 0-40 with 36 KO heavyweight division returns under a up-to-date name, now 0-43
Rolly Romero only sees one winner in Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao 2
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