By Jackie Kallen
After the excitement of last weekend in San Antonio, most fight fans are gearing up for the big Mayweather fight in Vegas on May 4th. But in between, there is a fight in New York this coming weekend that should not be over-shadowed.
At the new Barclay Center in Brooklyn on Saturday night, Danny Garcia (25-0) will test his skills against 35-year old former champ Zab Judah. Both WBA and WBC titles will be on the line.The southpaw from Brooklyn (Judah) believes that he has what it takes to teach the 10 years younger kid from Philly a few things. The wily veteran has more KOs than Garcia has total fights. He has more than twice as many rounds under his belt and has been in with guys like Amir Khan, Matthysse, Cotto and Mayweather.
Garcia is no slouch either. He has beaten Erik Morales twice, beaten Kendall Holt and Nate Campbell and stopped Amir Khan last summer in Vegas. His lethal left hand will be gunning for Judah from the first round.
Few give Judah a chance. To many he is a washed up, shot fighter whose mouth is bigger than his punch. He claims that he is living a clean life out in Vegas and is better than ever. He has proclaimed that before and then come out on the short end of the stick once he got into the ring. He has predicted that this time will be different.
Garcia is one of the bright lights in the Junior Welterweight division and he has proven to be hard to beat. No one has done it so far. He has had a couple of split decision wins (Holt being one of them) but has always come out on top. He is young, strong, and determined. Plus: He has heart.
Also on the same card, Peter Quillin will put his undefeated 28-0 record on the line against Fernando Guererro (25-1) for the WBO Middleweight Title. “Kid Chocolate” Quillin is from Brooklyn, which puts the cards in his pile. The hometown crowd will be staunchly behind him. Though he’s from the Dominican Republic, Guererro now lives in Baltimore and will no doubt have some of his fans on hand as well. But he is clearly stepping into the Kid’s backyard.
You have to commend Kid Chocolate for taking on such a solid opponent. Guererro can punch. He has knocked out 73% of his opponents and has only been stopped once (by Grady Brewer in 2011.) He may not be in the same class as Quillin, but he is still a menacing boxer who is only one punch away from stealing any man’s win. It may turn out to be the fight of the night.
Quillin is also a big hitter and has beaten guys like Jesse Brinkley and Winky Wright. He has a two-inch height advantage over Guererro and unless the challenger’s southpaw stance poses a problem, it should be Kid Chocolate’s night.
Jackie Kallen is a boxing manager who has been in the business for over three decades. Her life inspired the Meg Ryan film “Against the Ropes” and she was a part of the NBC series “The Contender.” www.JackieKallen.com, www.facebook.com/JackieKallen
