Danny Garcia’s father and cornerman, Angel, went full-blown “Rocky II” in helping his son train for his 147-pound debut Saturday against Paulie Malignaggi.
Danny Garcia is cheered on by father Angel, right, after chasing down a chicken in the ring during training camp in Philadelphia.
Angel Garcia employed the same old-school method Mickey used to get Rocky slicker in the ring against Apollo Creed, and Danny Garcia believes it will aid him against the crafty Malignaggi the same way it helped that other boxer from Philadelphia.
“We did something new this time in training camp. We’ve been chasing chickens. We put a chicken into the ring and chase him until we catch him, so we’re ready for whatever Malignaggi decides to do,” Danny Garcia said.
“It’s pretty hard, because you have to reach underneath the chicken and grab his legs. That’s the rule. But when put your hands beneath the chicken to grab his legs, he jumps up. So you have to really cut the ring off to capture them.”
Danny Garcia (30-0, 17 KOs) will face Paulie Malignaggi (33-6, 7 KOs) at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, in a fight airing on ESPN (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT).
“I’m going to go in there and put the entire package together,” said Garcia, who is 4-0 with two knockouts fighting at Barclays Center. “I’m going to go in there and set the pace, move my hands, use my footwork, use my feints and land my combinations and power shots.”
Malignaggi, a two-division world champion, was last in action in April 2014, when he was dropped twice and stopped in the fourth round by Shawn Porter.
“I doubt he stands in front of me, unless he’s going to try to go in there and do something different like try to push me back with the jab,” Garcia said.
“But we’re prepared for whatever. If he wants to stand in front of me, we’re ready for that. If he wants to run around, then we’ve got something for that, too.”
For complete coverage of Garcia vs Malignaggi, visit our fight page.
This Saturday on @espn primetime, watch me beat @PaulMalignaggi in his home town @barclayscenter #D5G #PBConESPN pic.twitter.com/nTM0AMXM0r
— Danny 'Swift' Garcia (@DannySwift) July 28, 2015
