By Dan Ambrose: Trainer Abel Sanchez says he has no problems with WBC welterweight champion Danny “Swift” Garcia (32-0, 18 KOs) taking a tune-up fight to get him ready for a fight against WBA World welterweight champion Keith “One Time” Thurman (27-0, 22 KOs) in early 2017. Sanchez notes that Garcia’s management don’t fight him enough to keep him sharp, and they match him against too many poor opponents.
Sanchez feels that it’s not possible for Garcia to beat the better fighters due to him fighting so infrequently, and against bad opposition. For this reason, Sanchez feels that Garcia will lose to Thurman next year when the two of them face each other in the first quarter of 2017.
Garcia, 28, has a tune-up fight scheduled against #6 WBA Samuel Vargas (25-2-1, 13 KOs) next month on November 12 at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The fight is scheduled for 10 rounds, and it’s seen as another Rod Salka type of fight for Garcia. Vargas was destroyed by Errol Spence Jr. in four rounds last year in April 2015. Vargas has also been beaten by journeyman Pablo Munguia (21-11, 12 KOs) in 2013 in losing a 10 round decision.
Sanchez said this to Fighthype.com about Danny Garcia losing to Keith Thurman:
“Unfortunately for Danny, he doesn’t fight enough to be ready to fight the better guys,” said Sanchez. “When they do fight him, it’s like the [Rod] Salka thing; nobody that anybody would respect. So it’s difficult for Danny. They put him in a position where he has to fight these guys to get a tune-up to be able to fight the better guys. But I think he has to fight more often. Absolutely [it’s okay for Garcia to take tune-ups], but I think he has to fight more often. Thurman, he’s never really impressed me either, but I think he’s good enough and big enough to beat Danny. I think he’s the bigger guy, and I think he’ll beat Danny,” said Sanchez.
As poorly as Danny Garcia’s management has matched him in the last two years, it would take a couple of years of better match-making to get him ready for a fighter like Thurman. It’s pretty sad how poorly Garcia has been matched in the last two years. Garcia has fought Paulie Malignaggi, Rod Salka, Mauricio Herrera, Robert Guerrero and Lamont Peterson. Garcia should have been matched against Viktor Postol instead of Peterson, because he then could have held onto his WBA/WBC light welterweight titles instead of giving the belts up.
Sanchez believes that Floyd Mayweather Jr. will be coming out of retirement to look for his 50th win. Sanchez believes this because he’s heard the news about Mayweather mentioning middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin’s name frequently, and he sees this as a reason for him wanting to come back.
“The way he’s talking, I think he’s going to make his 50th fight. Just for the history of it,” said Sanchez to Fighthype.com about Floyd Mayweather Jr. returning to try and pick up his 50th win.”
If Mayweather is going to resume his boxing career long enough to get his 50th win, then he’s going to need to do it soon, because he’s not going to be able to beat anyone good if he waits too much longer. It’s already been a year since Mayweather last fought. If he waits too long, he’ll wind up suffering his first loss when he comes back if he tries to fight someone with punching power like Danny Garcia. I think it’s already academic that Mayweather will fight a non-dangerous opponent when he does return. However, Mayweather is about to turn 40, and he’s likely to have lost a considerable amount from his game from his time out of the ring. If he faces a guy like Garcia, then he might wind up losing to him, because he doesn’t have the same kind of power that Garcia has going for him.
