Redkach Plans to KO Garcia, Then Face Pacquiao
On January 25, Ivan “El Terrible” Redkach (23-4-1, 18 KO’s) is set to face Danny “Swift” Garcia (35-2, 21 KO’s) in the biggest fight of his career and he could not be happier. The notable milestone bout will be contested in the Brooklyn Barclays Center and aired live on Showtime.
REAL THREAT OR STEPPING STONE?
Logically speaking, it’s easy to see why Redkach is eager to slide through the ropes and put some leather on Garcia. This prizefight is grabbing more attention than any of his other previous professional fights. Swift is his most accomplished name to date and the winner is strategically positioned for a title shot. And even better, as Redkach explained to Fight Hype, is the fact that Garcia is overlooking him.
It’s no secret that last year Garcia was all setup to go toe-to-toe with WBC and IBF world welterweight champion Errol “The Truth” Spence Jr (26-0, 21 KO’s). Unfortunately, Spence was involved in a hair-raising automobile accident that derailed the upcoming bout.
Nevertheless, given the talking points in many of his interviews, it’s clear that Swift still has bigger fights very much on his mind. So much so that El Terrible believes that he is being taken lightly. Not only does he think he’s being treated as a soft touch, Redkach speculates that he was selected due to sharing the same fighting stance as the Truth and Pac Man.
“He is already planning to fight Errol Spence or Manny Pacquiao and before fighting them he picked me. Why? Because I’m a southpaw. ”
READY FOR WAR
Some would argue that Redkach is already coming into this bout fresh off an upset victory over Devon Alexander (27-6-1, 14 KO’s). However, the more cynical boxing fans would counter than El Terrible got to Alexander well after his sell-by date. Regardless of what side the boxing public falls onto in relation to that argument, Redkach is coming into the bout with Garcia brimming with confidence.
First and foremost, the determined Ukrainian is coming off a great camp with his new coach, Jack Mosley, father and former trainer of “Sugar” Shane Mosley. According to Redkach and Mosley, they have meshed very well together and their pre-fight preparations proceeded without any significant hiccups. Going a step further, El Terrible feels as though this could have been his best camp to date.
“Like a lot of fighters, usually when I’m in camp I’m there to cut weight. In this camp, I don’t have to do that so I feel strong and this is going to be a strong performance.”
HAVE HIS PILLOW FLUFFED!
While Redkach would not say that he is overlooking Danny Garcia, he more or less is sharing a bit of his mindset. This is because, if victorious, El Terrible has a firm notion of who he would like to face next.
“[On a win over Garcia] It’ll change my life, but I worked my whole life to get to this point and if I win I will have my opportunity with Manny Pacquiao, that’s the plan.” ~Ivan Redkach
On the notion of how he thinks he will overcome Garcia, Redkach kept his short and sweet.
“I’m going to knock him out!” ~Ivan Redkach
By: Bakari Simpson
