The grand opening of a new Dunkin' Donuts in Pembroke Pines, Florida had a celebration on Saturday, April 29 with former world super lightweight and welterweight champion Danny "Swift" Garcia. Garcia is originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. About 150 people were waiting in line to get an autographed photo of him landing a left hook to the head of Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero. That was the fight in which Garcia won the vacant WBC welterweight title last year. Garcia lost that title by split decision in a unification fight with WBA welterweight champion Keith "One Time" Thurman of Clearwater, Florida. Thurman now holds both titles, but Garcia feels that he deserved to win the fight. One judge did score the fight in his favor, but the other two judges scored it in favor of Thurman.
FightHype.com was in Pembroke Pines for the celebration at the new Dunkin' Donuts, where boxing fans had a meet and greet with Garcia. Fans had the opportunity to talk to Garcia and receive a color photo with Garcia's signature of his fight against Guerrero. Some fans brought posters of Garcia for him to sign. Others brought championship boxing belts, such as a replica of the WBC green and gold belt. After Garcia spent time with boxing fans for a couple of hours, Garcia conducted the following quick interview with FightHype.com.
RS: Have you ever been to Florida before? Is this your first time here?
DG: No, I've been living here for like a year already.
RS: What city?
DG: City of Plantation.
RS: Oh, okay. Do you train at a gym around here?
DG: I usually work out at home, but I do my training camps in Philadelphia.
RS: Okay. Is your designer label from Philadelphia?
DG: Yeah, DSG.
RS: You sell clothing.
DG: Yeah, it is based out of Philadelphia and you can only buy it on my website dsgofficial.com.
RS: Are you surprised at how many fans turned out for this event?
DG: Not at all.
RS: You've had similar turnouts when you went to other Dunkin' Donuts restaurants?
DG: Yeah, definitely.
RS: What are your plans for the future regarding your weight class? Are you going to stay at welterweight or are you going to go back down?
DG: I'm never going back to 140.
RS: You're going to stay at 147?
DG: Yeah, 147.
RS: Has the WBC said that you need to get a rematch with Thurman?
DG: Well, they ranked me number one. I want the rematch, but if not, maybe I'll bring a fight back to Philadelphia.
RS: Your dad, who is your trainer, he was saying that the WBC was disgusted with the decision (of the judges). Was WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman unhappy with the decision?
DG: I don't know. I wasn't there. I can't speak on that. I was upset after the fight, so I didn't want to be around nobody.
RS: I see. How did you get your nickname "Swift"?
DG: When I was a kid, I used to spar professionals. I always used to spar a guy named Lenny. He was a professional fighter. One day, I walked in the gym and he said "I got a good name for you, man. Since you're young and nobody can ever hit you and you're beating up the pros, I'm going to name you Young Swift," and that's how I got the name.
RS: How old were you when you sparred professionals?
DG: I was sparring pros like at 10-13 (years of age).
RS: Wow, and how old were the pros?
DG: They were old.
RS: Really. And you were doing well against them?
DG: Yeah, I was doing good. They used to fight at like 120 pounds.
RS: Well, it was nice to meet you and thank you for your time.
DG: Thank you. I appreciate it.