By Dan Ambrose: WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia (28-0, 16 KO’s) says he’ll be moving up to the welterweight division after making one final title defense at 140 of his WBA and WBC 140lb titles. Garcia struggled to beat Mauricio Herrera by a 12 round majority decision last March in a fight that pretty much the entire world saw Garcia losing. Garcia thinks he won the fight by four rounds, but the fans disagree with him.
Danny’s performance against Herrera isn’t the type that you want to see from a fighter who is about to take a step up in competition against much better opposition than the guys that he’s been facing during his career. That probably won’t stop Danny from getting a big money fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2015, but his chances of success in that fight and in other fights at 147 aren’t looking too good right now.
“My next fight will likely be my last fight at 140, and then I’ll go up to 147. I got one more at 147, and then here I come, so you better watch out. I got my eyes open.”
In looking at the way that Danny struggled against Herrera and Zab Judah, I think the chances of him doing well at 147 are extremely limited. To be sure, Golden Boy Promotions will match Danny carefully long enough for him to get his payday fight against Mayweather, but from then on he’s going to have to actually perform at this weight. That means Danny will need to be able to compete with the likes of Shawn Porter, Keith Thurman and Devon Alexander.
The tactics that Danny used to beat Lucas Matthysse last September – move, clinch constantly, and throw low blows – won’t likely be enough to beat any of the top welterweights. They’re all more advanced fighters who are able to defeat the old punch and grab technique.
It’s likely that Danny will move back down to the light welterweight division if he fails to make a mark at 147. Danny will get his payday fight against Mayweather, but he’s going have problems after that because there’s no easy titles to win at 147 like there was for him at 140. There isn’t an old past his best Erik Morales for Danny to beat to win one of the welterweight titles, and he’s going to have problems trying to beat a guy like Shawn Porter. If Danny couldn’t even beat Herrera without controversy then how can he hope to defeat a much better fighters at 147.
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