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Add FightsATW on GoogleIn years past, when fighters hung up their gloves, there wasn’t much of a lane for their post-career beyond signing appearances and Hall of Fame events. In recent years, the exhibition circuit has gained considerable traction, giving marquee names a run, even if it’s a short one, in the ring. Danny ‘Swift’ Garcia has joined the trend, as he’s scheduled to face Ruslan Provodnikov on November 7 at the Watsco Center in Miami, Florida.
The 38-year-old Garcia from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a former two-division champion who last fought on October 18, 2025, a fourth-round knockout over Danny Gonzalez. The event was titled “Farewell to Brooklyn,” and it was thought that Garcia was done with boxing after that night.
Since then, Garcia has been busy, not just as a fighter but more so as a family man and businessman. Garcia knows that part of today’s world is staying active on social media, and he’s done so, which has shown his path to the other things he has been up to in life.
“I’ve been pretty much a family man,” Garcia told FightsATW. “I’ve been building up new businesses. I bought a bar out in Philly and still have the barbershop and the gym. I have three kids now and some real estate in Miami, Florida, so I’ve just been meeting new people and doing new ventures. It’s like what I’m about to be doing now, the exhibition. So I’m excited.”
The fight against Provodnikov, 42, comes at a time when the former junior welterweight champion, who last fought ten years ago, was scheduled to face Manny Pacquiao in June. That bout was also set to be an exhibition, but it fell apart due to the sudden emergence of a Floyd Mayweather rematch on Netflix. Since the Pacquiao fight didn’t materialize, Provodnikov and his team reached out to Garcia, and the rest was settled shortly after.
“He was supposed to fight Manny, and I guess Manny decided to do the Netflix show in December, so you know, we were the next best guy,” Garcia said. “They reached out. I’m my own promoter and my own boss. It was easy to get made. They sent me the agreement, sent it to my lawyer, went over the details, and everything looked good. And here we are.
“Good thing I’ve been working out. I’m actually training for a half-marathon I’m doing on November 20 in Philly. I’ve been working out and training, so it was perfect timing.”
Now that the fight is scheduled for November 7, Garcia laid out the rules of the exhibition and insists that it’s a real fight between the two former champions.
“It’s like a real fight, but just an exhibition,” Garcia said. “It’s 10-ounce gloves, the weight is 155, and it’s eight rounds, two minutes each. But the undercard will be pro fights.”
Because it’s a Garcia fight, he’s synonymous with doing the “Tony Montana” dance and quoting lines from the film Scarface on social media. It became part of his identity organically, and he went with it. Now that he isn’t an active fighter, is “Danny Montana” still part of him, even though he is now in the exhibition circuit?
“You know what? Since I’m fighting in Miami, I may have to bring him back out (laughs). That’s like my alter ego. Tony Montana was an immigrant who came over from another country to live the American dream. That’s why I looked up to him in that sense.”
Garcia later added, “I’m a Latino who came from the bottom and made it to the top.”
Regardless of your thoughts on exhibition fights, Garcia is hard-pressed to put on a show on November 7 in Miami. He stated that you’ll expect to see “fireworks” and that he “feels good” and is “ready to go.”
If successful in November, could we see Garcia face Floyd Mayweather in an exhibition in 2027? “I would love to,” Garcia told FightsATW. “Who doesn’t want to get in the ring with Floyd? I heard Manny (Pacquiao) say my name, but quickly went away. I’m still a live dog.”
Let’s see how this all turns out for Garcia, who will aim to bring back some of that ‘Swift’ for at least one more night.
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