In September, Danny Garcia will face Erislandy Lara. In his 14th fight in Las Vegas, Garcia takes some time to talk about the past two years off, why he doesn’t expect much rest in the ring, and why this fight was the right one for him at this point in his career. Check out some of what he had to say below.

Garcia on why he doesn’t believe the long layoff will affect him in the ring

“I was inactive, but I always focused on the game. I’m always watching boxing, I’m always training, I’m always giving advice to youthful guys, I’m always a mentor, so I feel like even sometimes when you’re not energetic, but your head is in the game and you’re still following the sport, you’re still learning, you’re still participating in it.

“As far as being inactive, it wasn’t by choice. Boxing changed when Showtime stopped doing boxing, so I just had to sit back and wait my turn, and that’s what it was.

If he sees something in Lara that will make him want this fight

“I definitely feel like I can beat him, I know I can beat him. I feel like I could beat anyone if my mind is 100% and I’m physically ready. But I felt it was an effortless fight to finish. I want to be world champion in three divisions and I didn’t want to wait years for politics to get in the way or something… At that point it could have been anyone, but he was the perfect person at 160 years ancient who was a champion that no one really knew he came to fight at 160 pounds, so who better than Danny Garcia. So I felt like the fight made sense.”

How his counter-attacking style fits someone like Lara

“You can definitely counter a counter attacker. You just need to have the right technique, know when to throw, when to pull him in, when to give him something to react and then you can come back. There are definitely ways to counter the guy who’s waiting, but the most crucial thing for me in this fight is just being myself. Get in there, have fun, get out first, don’t wait, try not to make a lot of mistakes because he’s the type of player that if you make mistakes, he’ll try to make you pay for it.

“He’s a crafty guy, he sticks to the game plan, he doesn’t take any risks, so I’ve got to go in there and fight shrewd, take the punches and just keep winning round by round.”

Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya immediately reacted to Vergil Ortiz’s majority decision win over Serheii Bohachuk, and while he thinks it was a close fight, he still believes Ortiz deserved the win. Check out what he had to say below.

De La Hoya on the Bohachuk vs Ortiz fight

“I said it would be the fight of the year and it was the fight of the year. Come on, it was a war. It was a fierce fight. Vergil attacked all night long. Bohachuk obviously deserves all the credit in the world, but Vergil won.

“He was pushing for the fight…Vergil Ortiz was pushing all night, he was fighting all night against tough, tough Bohachuk…I felt like Vergil won.”

On if he expects Ortiz to go straight to the Crawford fight next

“We will talk about it. We’ve just discussed this with Your Excellency, and if that’s what Vergil wants, that’s what we’ll give him.

On whether there should be a rematch between Ortiz and Bohachuk

“Vergil is in the hospital, Bohachuk is in the hospital. Let’s respect that, and when they get better, we’ll talk about it again and make something happen.

“Listen, they’re both fine, thank God. Both of them are fine, they are injured – it’s literally like in the movie Rocky, Apollo Creed and Sylvester Stallone in the hospital, a strenuous fight. Let’s give them a rest and then we’ll reconvene.”

Angelo Leo won both the IBF featherweight title and a spot among the 2024 knockout ranks with a shocking one-punch knockout of Luis Alberto Lopez.

Leo (24-1, 11 KO), fighting out of his hometown of Albuquerque, laid out a clear and effective game plan: take the jab, punish Lopez’s (30-3, 17 KO) crazy swings, get inside with body shots, and tie up before Lopez will have time to respond. Still, Lopez kept it competitive throughout with his trademark clumsy jumps, and was especially successful with a backslash as Leo dipped inside. The rounds often came down to who would take the lead first, resulting in constant swings in momentum that left the fight up for grabs as the championship rounds approached.

Midway through the 10th, Lopez fired a jab and dropped his right hand in the process, allowing Leo to come back with an absolutely perfect left hook that immediately put out the lights of “Venado.” Lopez hit her head on the mat, 100% frozen, and barely managed to regain even a fraction of consciousness as the counter reached 10.

The 30-year-old Leo, who has lost almost two and a half years of his excellent form, is now officially a two-division champion. He came in with the right plan, continued to execute it despite Lopez’s best efforts, and ultimately knocked down one of the most strong featherweights in the game.

As for Lopez, his cavalier approach to defense finally caught up with him. Its power and unique style were not enough to save it, leaving its technical shortcomings in the foreground. He needs to rebuild a bit; he will never be a conventional boxer and he shouldn’t try to be one because it doesn’t play to his strengths, but now that he can no longer trust his beard, he absolutely needs to get his act together.

As a side note, I would like to draw attention to the needy performance of referee Ernie Sharif. Sharif was inconsistent in delivering a series of low blows and rabbit punches and lacked any authority, offering only stern warnings and the occasional punishment. He wasn’t prepared for this kind of brutal fight.

Lindolfo Delgado defeats Bryan Flores in an undefeated fight

2016 Olympian Lindolfo Delgado maintained his unblemished record with a hard-fought split decision win over Bryan Flores.

Delgado (21-0, 15 KO) started the fight quite slowly, but in the third period he caught the super-aggressive Flores (26-1-1, 15 KO), who crossed from the right side and knocked him to the ground. Instead of pressing his advantage, he opted to stay in cruise control, allowing Flores to take the reins with constant activity and eye-catching power shots.

Delgado woke up in the sixth set, showing off noticeably stronger punches, and in the seventh he had a lucky break when Flores, fresh from a warning for a low blow, was awarded a point when his left hand bounced off Delgado’s elbow and hit him in the groin.

The action was steady, if not particularly engaging, but soon picked up considerably. The pair spent the last few rounds trading at close range, with Flores relying on mighty clinch work and Delgado relying on powerful combinations. Flores seemed to run out of strength in the ninth throw, but he came out stronger and played a very close final round.

Despite this surge, Delgado’s overdue efforts were enough to earn him legitimate scores of 96-92 and 95-93. The third, 96-92 for Flores from Chris Tellez, was borderline undefendable.

Delgado doesn’t appear to be a threat to the division’s elite, but if he can get started faster and become more effective, he will have the tools to be at his best. As for Flores, I hope to see more of him on future top-tier cards.