Welterweight world titleholder Danny Garcia has much love for the City of Brotherly Love, his hometown of Philadelphia, and is excited for the opportunity to fight there once again even if most view the fight as a mismatch.Garcia will take on Samuel Vargas in a 10-round nontitle bout on a Premier Boxing Champions card Nov. 12 (Spike, 9 p.m. ET) at the Liacouras Center on the campus of Temple University, where the fighters appeared Thursday at a news conference to announce the fight.My dad and I wanted to get one more fight in before the end of the year, and there was no doubt in my mind it had to be in Philadelphia, said Garcia , whose father, Angel Garcia, is also his sons trainer. My team got it done, and its a great feeling to fight at home over the holidays. Im excited to use this opportunity to give back to the community and put on a show on Nov. 12.Garcia announced his partnership with the charity organization Philabundance, a regional hunger relief organization. Garcia encouraged fans to drop off canned goods at the Liacouras Center his DSG Gym in the city and also said that $10 from each ticket sold will be donated and provide 20 meals per ticket for people in need.This city means everything to me, Garcia said. I hope everyone comes out, but shows up with cans of food too. Being able to partner with Philabundance is a tremendous thing. At the end of the day, thats what its all about. When youre fortunate, your job is to give back and change someone elses life. Im looking forward to a great night and a great turnout.Everyone has gone through hard times. Everyone has gone through times where they need extra help. Were going to make a big difference that night, and itll be for a lot of people that really need it.Said Angel Garcia: I came to Philadelphia at 6 years old. I had no food. Only you know your pain. I ate a lot of food from a can growing up, so if you guys donate anything or buy a ticket that donates money, youll be doing something great. We pray every day for the hungry kids, not just in America but the whole world.Garcia, 28, has not fought in Philadelphia since 2010 and will be fighting in his hometown for the fourth time in his nine-year career. But he is coming home with a fight that is not expected to be competitive. It is admittedly a tuneup fight for a much bigger one.If Garcia wins, he will face fellow world titleholder Keith Thurman in a unification fight in the first quarter of 2017, most likely in March. Its one of the biggest fights that can be made in one of boxings deepest divisions.Im gearing up for a big fight with Keith Thurman next year thats going to be a cant-miss event, Garcia said. First, Im going to fight for my city on Nov. 12. I cant look past Samuel Vargas, ?and I know his trainer (Billy Briscoe) has a couple tricks up his sleeve. I know theyre going to come to fight, but I will never underestimate anyone.Ive learned my lessons to become the champion I am today. I know Vargas knows how to win. Hes won a lot in his career. Im going to go out there and just fight. If it goes the distance, then it does. I cant underestimate him. Im going to put on a great show and dominate.Vargas (25-2-1, 13 KOs), who is from Colombia and based in Toronto, stepped up in the level of his opposition once before. He got battered in a fourth-round knockout loss in April 2015 to then-prospect Errol Spence Jr., now a top contender who is the mandatory challenger for the belt held by Kell Brook. Vargas, 27, knows Garcia is very tough.This fight could change my whole life, the lives of my family, he said. Danny is a great fighter and I have to give it my all. I have to take advantage of this. Im an underdog and I have been my whole life. There are very few options for a Latin immigrant all the way up in Canada. I beat the odds to make it up there and have a life and a family.Im a guy with just over 10 amateur fights and Ive made it this far. Danny Garcia is my chance. I have to make the best of it and give it my all. This is everything for me. This is going to be a Rocky story in Rockys town.Briscoe added: Were fighting, in my opinion, the best welterweight in the world. This is no easy task and were not fooling ourselves. We wont leave any stone unturned. Well find a way and well make a way.Garcia (32-0, 18 KOs) has been heavily criticized by fans, especially on social media, for his soft schedule since a big win against Lucas Matthysse in their 2013 junior welterweight championship fight. Since then, he has faced one top opponent, winning a debatable 12-round majority decision against Lamont Peterson in April 2015. Other than?that, Garcia has beaten faded Robert Guerrero for a vacant welterweight belt in January, long-faded former titleholder Paulie Malignaggi, club fighter Rod Salka and fringe contender Mauricio Herrera, who many thought deserved the decision against Garcia.Even Thurman and Spence mocked the selection of Vargas on Twitter.Thurman (27-0, 22 KOs) is coming off a close decision win over former titleholder Shawn Porter to retain a belt on June 25 in a fight-of-the-year contender. Many outspoken fans have accused Garcia of cherry-picking his opponents. Thurman followed suit.Garcia has seen and heard the critics but said he pays no attention to them.People are acting like Keith Thurman has a cape like Superman and can fly, Garcia said. I want the other champions to think Im vulnerable. Those are my easiest fights. I have to get past this fight to get to the next one.I have a good team around me. There should be no distractions leading up to this fight. Im 100 percent focused on this matchup. Come Nov. 12, we want to give the city of Philadelphia a night to remember. I cant overlook this fight, but I guarantee that Im going to unify titles at 147 pounds soon.There are also two other bouts scheduled for the telecast: up-and-coming middleweight Jarrett Hurd (18-0, 12 KOs), 26, of Accokeek, Maryland, against Mexicos Jorge Cota (25-1, 22 KOs), 27, in a 12-round fight; and former junior lightweight titlist Javier Fortuna (30-1-1, 22 KOs), 27, of the Dominican Republic, against Omar Douglas (17-0, 12 KOs), 25, of Wilmington, Delaware, in a scheduled 10-rounder.Custom Timberwolves T-shirts . Vokoun departed practice on Saturday morning after discovering swelling in his thigh. He was taken to a local hospital where the clot was revealed. The club announced the surgery following a 5-3 exhibition loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. 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Its the second straight game Bell has scored in extra time for Kelowna, which beat the Brandon Wheat Kings 6-5 on Friday, and he now has four game-winning goals on the season.RIO DE JANEIRO -- Those stars and stripes get her every time.Any time I talk about representing my country, and what it would mean to hold the medal for our country and hear our national anthem ... Im just so proud to be an American and I think our country is the best, U.S. golfer Gerena Piller said after the first round of the Olympic womens golf tournament Wednesday.Piller finished the day at 2-under 69 and in an eight-way tie for 11th, 4 strokes behind the leader Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand and sandwiched between Americans Lexi Thompson (3-under 68, tied for seventh) and Stacy Lewis (1-under 70 and tied for 19th).Piller, 31, had six birdies -- including a run on holes 9, 10 and 11, and another to finish at 18 -- to offset four bogeys. Ranked 28th at the start of the year with five U.S. golfers between her and a top 15 finish and spot on the Olympic team, it did not seem particularly likely that she would even be in Rio.In the end, nine-hundreths of a point separated her 15th ranking from the next golfer, secured by Pillers eighth-place finish that week in Julys U.S. Womens Open.To squeak in at the end, thats pretty cool, she said. And it wasnt like I finished 40th. I top-10d in the U.S. Open. So thats an accomplishment in itself.That achievement and the prospect that she might be standing on the medal podium Saturday, brought Piller to tears in a Tuesday team media conference.Growing up, thats not something that was ever in my mind, she said as she covered her eyes.For her mother Rita Stevenson, who walked the course Wednesday, it was difficult speaking of her daughters accomplishment without also tearing up.Gerina is my idol, shes my hero, Rita said. She has taken it to the next level. She had the opportunity and Im so proud of her.An elementary school P.E. teacher, Stevenson said she gives the same speech to her students every four years.Ive been doing this for 10 years and every times the Olympics come around, it just moves me, and I tell my kids at school, You know what, guys, you can be an Olympian. All you have to do is have a dream and put it in your heart, and it can happen. You just have to work hard and yes, its not going to be easy, but you can do it. And then ...And then she pauses, said Piller, and is like, Wow, my daughter is an Olympian. Its pretty cool to hear her say that.An all-around athlete growing up in Roswell, New Mexico, Piller played basketball, soccer, volleyball and Little League baseball because she didnt find softball competitive enough. She didnt take up golf until she was 15.Her stepfather, Alan Stevenson, whom Piller calls Dad, talked about hearing of some 200 womens golf scholarships that went unused for smaller schools.I said to Rita, This is an opportunity, something we may want to think about, said Alan Stevenson, who is also in Rio this week. Rita was a new teacher and I was a rookie police officer and we talked about it as maybe a way for her to go to school someday.He laughed about taking her to play nine holes with her brother Michael and Gerina shooting a 72.Some days later, she said, Dad, Im pretty good at golf. And I said, Yeah, youre OK. And she said, Well, I shot a 72 and those guys are shooting a 72 on TV, and I said, Yes Gerina, but you did it in nine holes. She fell in love with the challenge, her parents saiid.ddddddddddddBut more than that was the motivation that has driven her to consistently improve throughout her nine-year career.It comes from her early childhood and the sacrifices her mother made when she was a single mother raising our three oldest kids, Alan Stevenson said. Thats the foundation for Gerina -- where she came from -- that gave her the strength and character, the courage to go do stuff a lot of people may not have ever thought of doing.Its significant to her because she doesnt take for granted people who sacrificed their lives to protect us and our freedoms. She gets that. She gets it to her heart and to her core.Brian Dilley, Pillers caddie of the past year and a half, called Gerina one of the most patriotic people Ive ever been around and she lets it show whenever shes wearing the stars and stripes.Pillers latest and most notable accomplishment playing for her country came in September, when her 8-foot putt proved pivotal in the U.S. comeback victory in the Solheim Cup.It means more to her than anything to be an American and represent her country, her mother said.At 11, Piller recalled watching the 96 Olympics and the womens gymnastics team, the Magnificent Seven, that won the first gold for the U.S. in team competition. She rattled off the names of each team member.Shannon Miller, Dominique Moceanu, Dominique Dawes, Kerri Strug being carried off by Bela Karolyi, she said. Obviously I thought that would be pretty awesome to be in the Olympics, but its gymnastics. I cant even touch my toes, so that dream kind of went out the window ...I never thought I would be standing here giving an interview about being in the Olympics. Its just a dream come true.Married to PGA Tour golfer Martin Piller -- the only husband-wife combo on their respective tours -- Gerinas thoughts are also with her husband this week as he fights to keep his PGA Tour card at the Wyndham Championship, the final regular-season event in which to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs.I know I would love to be there supporting him, Piller said. I know he would love to be here. I think Im more concerned with me not being there for him because its a big week for him and hes had his card before and hasnt kept it. Im just praying that he has a good week and hes just content with whatever comes at him and he just plays to his best ability. If he does that, I think the good results will come.As for Piller, she has eight top-10 finishes this year, tied for sixth on tour, but hasnt broken through for that first career victory.I dont think there are any limits for her, said Dilley, a longtime caddie on the LPGA Tour. Its all between her ears and shes just gaining confidence. She knows she should be in that last group, she knows she should win tournaments. Before, it was I just want to get a top-10 or a top-15 or be in contention but now she knows she belongs in that last group every Sunday. And its only a matter of time.If the time should come this week, dont expect Piller to be dry-eyed.I couldnt be more proud and more blessed to be an American, she said. So any time that I can represent our country and succeed and stand on the podium, it just gets me every time. ' ' '