The fight between Danny Garcia (35-2, 21 KOs) and Ivan Redkach (23-4-1) was announced earlier this month, and yesterday they both were face to face for the first time in order to make the fight official. They were at the Barclays Center along with Jarrett Hurd and Francisco Santana who will fight in the co-feature bout, and Stephen Fulton who is going to be in a super bantamweight title eliminator against Arnold Khegai.

Garcia, a former two-division champion, is eager to get in the ring after his last fight in April. He got a knockout victory over Adrian Granados and was waiting for the result of the unification bout between Errol Spence and Shawn Porter. Spence won that bout by decision and Garcia stepped in the ring to signal that he would fight Spence next. However, due to the serious car crash that Spence was involved in he is out until further notice. As a result, Garcia will headline the fight card which is scheduled for January 25th.

The Philadelphia native is no stranger to the venue as he has fought there seven times. He is excited about being the headliner once again.

“This is my eighth fight at Barclays Center and I’m excited to be back,” Garcia said at the press conference announcing the fight. “I’ve fought in a quarter of the events here at Barclays Center, so you could say this is my house. I’ve had some historic fights in here.”

Those fights include wins over Zab Judah, Paulie Malignaggi, Erik Morales, and Lamont Peterson. He wants to get another win on his record in Brooklyn, but knows that he will be in a battle with Redkach.

“We picked Redkach because he’s dangerous and we knew he’d be tough. I’m definitely not overlooking him. I’m training hard for this fight. For me, this is a big fight. If I overlook him, it could ruin everything.”

“I know Ivan is coming to fight. We’ve followed each other’s careers. I know he’s hungry and he wants to show the fans that he belongs on this level.”

Redkach is coming off of a stoppage win over Devon Alexander in June and wants to upset the former champion. He knows that this is a big fight for him and a win could place him as a top contender for a world title.

“This opportunity fighting at the Barclays Center is huge for me,” Redkach said. “I accept the opportunity with honor and I want to thank Danny Garcia for taking the fight.”

“I’m training very hard because this fight is extremely important to me. I have to give the best performance of my professional career.”

While this is a fight that some may say that he is the underdog in, he is confident that he will leave Barclays Center January 25th as the victor.

“Danny made a mistake if he thinks this is a tune-up. I’m going to knock Danny Garcia out. That’s the plan.”