NEW YORK — It was as if Danny Garcia got sick of seeing Ivan Redkach's neon yellow hairdo right in his face.
The two-division world champ seemingly picked up his aggression with each round, battering Redkach toward a unanimous decision (118-110, 117-111, 117-111) at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Saturday night. With the win in tow, Garcia (36-2, 21 KOs) looked ahead to facing either unified welterweight world champion Errol Spence Jr. or WBA titleholder Manny Pacquiao.
“Either or (Spence or Pacquiao), either of those fights I would like to have," Garcia told Showtime during his post-fight interview. "My style looks great with both fighters."
Garcia also expressed interest in a rematch with Keith Thurman Jr. and a bout against Mikey Garcia, who's still finding his footing at 147 pounds.
During the buildup to the bout, Garcia joked about Redkach looking like a Lemonhead candy because of the Ukrainian fighter's hair. But Garcia might have been envisioning Jawbreakers, instead. He counterpunched and head-hunted with stiff right hands that punished Redkach over the course of the fight. And the beating got worse for Redkach as the bout went on.
Garcia landed a brutal right hand across the temple toward the end of the fifth round.
During the seventh, Garcia buckled Redkach's knees with another stiff right.
When an animated Redkach gestured Garcia to bring it during the eighth, "Swift" happily obliged by doling out more punishment and drawing blood.
That same round had Redkach wildly biting Garcia between the neck and shoulder while in the clinch — which was about the only punishment Redkach could muster against "Swift."
Walloping right hands continued landing in the ninth, as Garcia kept imposing his will on his outmatched opponent.
Redkach didn't do himself any favors sticking his tongue out at Garcia and smiling at times, which only made the two-division world champ hit him harder.
There were times, while waiting to counterpunch, that begged for Garcia to increase his volume. But he stuck to his counterpunching. It's all he needed against an opponent like Redkach, but Garcia will need to do more against the likes of a Spence, Pacquiao, Thurman or Mikey Garcia.