By Ian S Palmer
Former world champion Danny Garcia of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania returns to the ring this Saturday, January 25th when he takes on southpaw Ivan Redkach of Ukraine. The 12-round bout is being billed as a WBC welterweight eliminator and can be seen live in America on Showtime from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York while Canadian fans can catch it on TSN 1 and those in the UK can see it on BoxNation. Garcia last fought in April when he stopped Adrian Granados in the seventh round. Redkach last saw action in June when he stopped former two-division world champion Devon Alexander in the sixth round.
The 31-year-old Garcia is a former WBC and WBA Junior Welterweight Champion who won the vacant WBC Welterweight Title in January of 2016 with a unanimous decision over Robert Guerrero. However he lost that title to Keith Thurman by split decision in March, 2017 and was then beaten via a unanimous decision by Shawn Porter in September, 2018 in attempt to regain the vacant WBC belt. He enters this fight with a record of 35-2 with 21 Kos to his name. He has power in both hands, but it hasn’t really been evident lately since he has just five knockouts in his past 12 bouts since 2013.
After going 107-13 as an amateur, Garcia turned pro in 2007 and has fought 246 rounds since. He’s faced some top-quality opposition over the years such as Porter, Thurman, Guerrero, Paulie Malignaggi, Amir Khan, Zab Judah, Mauricio Herrera, Lucas Matthysse, Kendall Holt, Nate Campbell, and Erik Morales twice. Garcia isn’t really a standout boxer, but he’s solid in all areas of the sport with good power, speed, defence, ring generalship and chin and that’s why he’s been beaten just twice as a pro.
Garcia stands 5-feet-8-inches tall and has a reach of 68.5 inches. His current knockout ratio stands at 56.8 per cent and he doesn’t usually go looking for knockouts as he’s actually quite patient. He’s had some problems in the past with skilled boxers such as Thurman, Herrera and Judah and had to work hard against them since he was forced to go after them. He prefers opponents who are right in front of him as he can eventually wear them down with his jab and excellent left hook.
The 33-year-old Redkach fights out of Los Angeles and climbs into the ring with a mark of 25-4-1 with 18 Kos. He’s a relentless puncher who likes to go to the body but has won just four of his last 10 bouts along with four losses and a draw. His best wins have come against Alexander, Tony Luis, Sergey Gulyakevich and Yakubu Amidu. Redkach had an extensive and impressive amateur career but other than his win over Alexander has struggled as a pro over the past couple of years. He turned pro back in 2009 and has 133 rounds under his belt since then.
Redkach’s losses have been by fourth-round TKO to Dejan Zlaticanin in 2015, a 10-round unanimous decision to Tevin Farmer in 2016, a split decision defeat to Argenis Mendez in May of 2017 and he was stopped by John Molina in the fourth round of a slugfest in December, 2017. His lone draw was a 10-round affair with Luis Cruz in April of 2016. Redkach stands just over 5-feet-10-inches tall with a reach of 71 inches which gives him a 2.5-inch edge in height and reach on Garcia. He possesses pretty good power with a current knockout ratio of 62.1 and is a tough guy who’s been in several wars.
Prediction…
Garcia has better boxing skills while Redkach arguably has the edge in power. Even so, Garcia has a solid chin and has never been stopped. This will be Redkach’s second fight as a full fledged welterweight and he looked impressive when stopping Alexander last year. He’s the perfect opponent for Garcia though due to his aggressive style and I’m expecting Garcia to eventually take him down in an exciting fight.
