Andreas HaleOct 17, 2025, 07:50 AM ET
CloseAndreas Hale is a combat sports reporter at ESPN. Andreas covers MMA, boxing and pro wrestling. In Andreas’ free time, he plays video games, obsesses over music and is a White Sox and 49ers fan. He is also a host for Sirius XM’s Fight Nation. Before joining ESPN, Andreas was a senior writer at DAZN and Sporting News. He started his career as a music journalist for outlets including HipHopDX, The Grammys and Jay-Z’s Life+Times. He is also an NAACP Image Award-nominated filmmaker as a producer for the animated short film “Bridges” in 2024.
Danny Garcia (37-4, 21 KOs) is from Philadelphia, but he has managed to create a second boxing home at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. He headlined the first boxing event at the venue in October 2012, and he has gone on to fight there a total of nine times with a record of seven wins and two loses. With his boxing career winding down at age 37, Garcia will headline an event at Barclays once again on Saturday, at a card billed as “Farewell to Brooklyn,” which Garcia is also promoting. His 10th and final fight in the arena will be against Daniel Gonzalez (Millions.co PPV).
“For me to be able to promote my last fight at the Barclay Center and do it because I want to, not because I have to, just means the world to me,” Garcia told ESPN. “It’s a dream come true and I couldn’t ask for a better ending.”
Garcia may be from Philadelphia, but his Puerto Rican background has helped him call Barclays his second home and he’s proud to have the opportunity to promote his own sendoff.
Ahead of the fight, we ranked his nine performances at Barclays Center and got some insight from Garcia on what he remembers from each of those fights. He ranked his Barclay’s fights as well.
1. Defeated Erik Morales by TKO4 (Oct. 20, 2012)
Danny Garcia, left, had to earn every bit of his unanimous decision victory over Erik Morales in the first boxing match at Barclays Center in October 2012. Al Bello/Getty Images for Golden Boy Promotions
Garcia was chosen to headline the first boxing event in Brooklyn in 81 years when he opened the Barclays Center against Morales, a Mexican legend. Earlier in 2012, Garcia had defeated Morales by unanimous decision to win the vacant WBC junior welterweight title. He had added the WBA title three months later when he upset Amir Khan.
The rematch with Morales capped off a banner year for Garcia, but New York wasn’t necessarily the city where Garcia wanted the fight to happen. However, from that day, his Puerto Rican background has helped him call Barclays his second home.
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“I remember that I really wanted to fight in Philly,” Garcia told ESPN. “At first, I wondered why I was going to Brooklyn, but I never thought about the millions of Puerto Ricans who live in New York, the diversity of the hiphop community and all the fans of boxing. It was the perfect marriage.”
Although Morales was clearly in the twilight of his career and fight fans wanted Garcia to face Lucas Matthysse instead (which he would do a year later), Garcia still had to take care of business against “El Terrible.” In Round 4, Garcia crushed Morales with a picture-perfect counter left hook that twisted Morales’ upper body and sent him crashing into the bottom rope. There would be no count as Morales’ trainer immediately climbed into the ring to prevent his fighter from taking further damage.
“It was the perfect night,” Garcia said. “The first fight at Barclays and I defended my titles with a highlight-reel knockout. It doesn’t get much better than that.”
Garcia’s ranking among his Barclays fights: 1
2. Defeated Zab Judah by UD12 (April 27, 2013)
Danny Garcia, right, defeated Brooklyn’s own Zab Judah by unanimous decision in April 2013. Photo by Elsa/Getty Images
Garcia’s second fight at Barclays would see him encroach on the stomping grounds of a former champion, Zab “Super” Judah. A two-division champion from Brooklyn, Judah had watched a fighter from Philly headline the first fight at Barclays and took it personally. The two fighters engaged in a heated rivalry leading into their clash for the unified 140-pound title.
“(Judah) felt like he was getting disrespected in his hometown in Brooklyn, so he couldn’t let nobody come into his hometown and disrespect him,” Garcia said. “My father did a lot of the trash talking, and he retaliated. That’s what it was all about.”
The fight was an entertaining slugfest between two fighters looking to back up their words. Garcia built an early lead and knocked Judah down in the eighth round but had to survive a late rally by the former champion to hold on for the decision.
“A lot of people said I was flat-footed and just hit hard coming into that fight,” Garcia said. “I loved that I had a chance to show that I had more in the toolbox as a young champion with beautiful timing and great counterpunching against a slick boxer.”
While the Morales fight had been the grand opening, the Judah fight cemented Garcia as a draw at Barclays.
“The buildup, the animosity, the crowd, everything was just electrifying,” Garcia said.
Garcia’s ranking among his Barclays fights: 2
3. Lost to Keith Thurman by SD12 (March 4, 2017)
Keith Thurman, left, handed Danny Garcia his first professional loss, a split decision in March 2017. Ed Diller/DiBella Entertainment
It may come as a surprise that a fight that he lost sits at No. 3. But both ESPN and Garcia agree that, despite the loss, this was one of his finer moments in Brooklyn. He dropped a narrow decision to Thurman in a fight that was nationally televised on CBS with an average of 3.74 million viewers tuning in for the main event.
“It was a tough pill to swallow losing that fight, but now that I look back, it was one hell of a night for boxing,” Garcia said.
Garcia was the aggressor in the battle of unbeaten fighters that took place in front of a crowd of 16,533, at the time a Barclays attendance record for a boxing event (until Gervonta Davis vs. Lamont Roach broke the record with 19,250 in the arena for their Feb. 2025 fight). However, Thurman boxed well and mixed in his power punching to keep Garcia from building momentum. Thurman tried to keep the fight tactical, but Garcia was able to spark a few exchanges and closed the fight strongly — winning the final three rounds on one of the judges’ scorecards and two of the last three on the other. But “One Time” held on and escaped with a split-decision win.
“He was a little better than I thought he would be,” Garcia said. “I didn’t underestimate him at all, but I felt like he couldn’t beat me on my worst night. I was wrong. He was on his game.”
Garcia’s ranking among his Barclays fights: 3
4. Defeated Lamont Peterson by MD12 (April 11, 2015)
Danny Garcia, right, edged out Lamont Peterson in April 2015 via majority decision in a 143-pound catchweight fight. Elsa/Getty Images
Garcia and Peterson were supposed to meet in a junior welterweight title unification. However, the fight was contested at a catchweight of 143 pounds as Garcia was no longer able to make the 140-pound weight limit. What made things interesting heading into the fight was that both had something to prove, with Garcia coming off winning a highly controversial decision against Mauricio Herrera and Peterson still putting himself back together after being knocked out by Lucas Matthysse. Garcia later said he felt terrible heading into the fight.
“It’s a good thing he didn’t know that I didn’t feel well,” Garcia said. “I had to dig deep and go to a place I had never been before mentally to finish that fight because I had no energy.”
Garcia got off to a fast start and won the early rounds by applying pressure and working the body. Peterson respected Garcia’s power and spent the early rounds avoiding exchanges and picking his spots. Aware he was behind, Peterson stepped on the gas in the second half of the fight, which resulted in some entertaining exchanges. At the end, Garcia had done just enough work early to fend off the frantic Peterson down the stretch.
Garcia’s ranking among his Barclays fights: 5
5. Defeated Jose Benavidez Jr. by MD12 (July 30, 2022)
Danny Garcia’s counter punching has been the story early on 🥊 #GarciaBenavidez
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— ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) July 31, 2022
While this wasn’t one of Garcia’s better in-ring performances, it was all about the postfight and what the Philly fighter pushed through in order to earn the victory.
“I was coming off of anxiety and depression for almost two years after the loss to Errol Spence Jr.,” Garcia said. “I didn’t think I was going to fight again.”
Debuting as a junior middleweight against Benavidez, Garcia looked sharp in getting back into the win column. The 153 punches landed by Garcia in the fight were a career high, and he needed every last one of them against an opponent that was noticeably bigger than him. But it was his postfight speech that was the most memorable moment of the fight.
“Things went dark,” Garcia said of his 19-month hiatus from boxing. “I went through anxiety, deep depression, just trying to be strong. And the only way to do better was to fight again. I’m a fighter.
“If you battle anxiety and depression, you can get out of it. That’s what I did today. I fought.”
Getting the win was important, but Garcia didn’t know how much his postfight message would hit those watching.
“That was a special night for me because I was able to reach the masses with my voice,” he said. “It was more than just winning a fight. I had my voice heard and connected with fans in a different way.”
Garcia’s ranking among his Barclays fights: 6
6. Defeated Paulie Malignaggi by TKO9 (Aug. 1, 2015)
Danny Garcia, right, defeated Paulie Malignaggi by ninth-round TKO in his own backyard in Brooklyn in August 2015. Lucas Noonan/Premier Boxing Champions
Garcia had to again deal with a Brooklynite at Barclays Center as Malignaggi welcomed him to the welterweight division. Although Malignaggi’s best years were behind him, he was only one fight removed from being a champion. Garcia was expected to win, but he burned right through Malignaggi in dominant fashion.
From the opening bell, Garcia battered and bludgeoned Malignaggi with an assortment of power punches. Fans showed their support for Malignaggi but had to watch as their hometown hero was punished by Garcia.
“Even though I did stop him in his backyard, it wasn’t a highly anticipated fight,” Garcia said. “It was just a fight against a former world champion.”
Garcia’s ranking among his Barclays fights: 7
7. Defeated Rod Salka by TKO9 (Aug. 1, 2015)
Danny Garcia, left, defeated Rod Salka in Round 2 with one of the best KO’s of his career. Ed Mulholland/Getty Images
ESPN and Garcia disagree heavily with where this fight places on the list. It was a gross mismatch as Salka was a low-level opponent with a weak resume who had no business being in the ring with Garcia. However, Garcia was paid handsomely for his two-round demolition, and, according to Garcia, it was the perfect bounce-back fight following his tougher-than-expected decision win over Mauricio Herrera. “I had come off beating five former or current world champions in five straight title fights,” Garcia said. “I played it safe because PBC was getting ready to launch and I wanted to make sure I landed the Lamont Peterson fight.”
If nothing else, Garcia enjoys how the fight ended with “Swift” putting down Salka three times in the second round. The last knockdown completely turned the lights off, as a left hook separated Salka from his senses in highlight-reel fashion.
“I got a lot of heat for that fight,” said Garcia. “But that knockout lives with me forever.”
Garcia’s ranking among his Barclays fights: 4
8. Defeated Ivan Redkach by UD12 (Jan. 25, 2020)
Danny Garcia, left, scored a one-sided victory over Ivan Redkach in a WBC welterweight eliminator in January 2020. Steven Ryan/Getty Images
This was another of Garcia’s tune-up fights that took place at Barclays. Following his loss to Shawn Porter, Garcia had to work his way back into title contention and knocked off Adrian Granados. He was originally set to face Errol Spence Jr. on this date, however, Spence was unable to compete after a car accident the previous October sidelined him. Rather than wait, Garcia went ahead with a fight against Redkach just to stay busy. Little did he know, the COVID-19 pandemic would shut the sports world down two months after this fight and he would have to wait until that December to finally get his chance against Spence.
“It was either fight Redkach or wait until April for Spence,” Garcia said. “I wasn’t sure if Spence was ever coming back but I decided to fight a southpaw just to stay sharp.”
Garcia delivered a one-sided beating of Redkach, who withstood a lot of punishment and made it to the final bell in front of more than 8,000 fans.
“I beat him up pretty easily,” Garcia said. “The fans came out, and I did what I had to do.”
Garcia’s ranking among his Barclays fights: 9
9. Lost to Shawn Porter by UD12 (Sept. 8, 2018)
Danny Garcia, right, lost a close unanimous decision against Shawn Porter in September 2018 Bill Tompkins/Getty Images
Two former welterweight titleholders met for the vacant WBC title in front of a crowd of 13,058 and put on an entertaining and closely contested battle that Garcia lost by a tight unanimous decision. Unlike the Thurman fight, Garcia wasn’t happy with his performance in a fight he thought he won.
“That was my worst fight,” Garcia said. “That loss has never sat right with me. I thought I won the fight. It wasn’t my sharpest performance, but I thought I landed the cleaner punches. I just felt like I was better than him and I didn’t get the decision.”
Porter was relentless from the opening bell and forced Garcia to fight back. The fight was mostly contested on Porter’s terms whenever he was willing to engage, leaving Garcia to create distance and find a way to pick off Porter’s advances. He did have success in the early rounds and landed some hard power shots, but nothing that deterred the powerful Porter from advancing at will.
After an exciting fight, Garcia lost by scores of 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113. If there was a salvageable moment for Garcia, it was the fact that he was able to finally shed the “Cherry Garcia” nickname critics gave him for avoiding tough opponents.
“I got the respect because I did fight him but I just felt like I was so much better than him, too,” said Garcia. “To win a close decision in what was like my hometown was crazy to me. I hate that fight.”
Garcia’s ranking among his Barclays fights: 8