Danny Garcia Survives Bite, Dominates Ivan Redkach in Welterweight Eliminator

Danny Garcia is one step closer to possibly becoming a world champion again as he thoroughly dismantled Ivan Redkach over 12 rounds Saturday night, but it wasn’t your typical bout.

Garcia (36-2, 21 KOs) outclassed Redkach from the opening bell until the final one inside Barclays Center in Brooklyn, but things almost became unhinged in the eighth. With his face busted up and hopelessly behind on the cards, Redkach (23-5-1, 18 KOs) decided to bite Garcia on the shoulder during a clinch.

“He bit me,” Garcia said after his win. “He said, ‘Mike Tyson,’ when he bit me. I said, ‘Ref, he bit me!’ I thought I needed stitches or something.”

The referee didn’t see the bite and allowed the fight to continue, much to the detriment of Redkach. “Swift” continued his systematic assault of his foe and picked him apart little by little. There were times late in the 12-round affair that possibly Redkach could have been saved by either the referee or his corner due to the amount of punches he absorbed, but “El Terrible” hung tough until the very end.

Garcia won handily via tallies of 118-110 and 117-111 (twice) to inch closer to a world title shot at welterweight. Garcia has won twice in a row since losing on points to Shawn Porter in the same arena nearly 18 months ago. The former super lightweight and welterweight champion said after his win that he would like to fight either Manny Pacquiao or Errol Spence Jr. next; he didn’t have a preference for either man.