By Dan Ambrose: Trainer Angel Garcia says Danny Garcia beat Terence Crawford the first time the two of him in the USA Championships when the two were amateurs. Angel said Garcia then fought Crawford in the Blue and Gold tournament and lost to him in that fight.
(Photo credit: Chet Susslin/SHOWTIME)
Angel says that people like to talk about how Crawford beat Garcia in the second time they fought each other. Angel dares Crawford to try and beat Danny now that they’re both pros.
Angel mentions that Danny Garcia fought Mikey Garcia in the National Golden Gloves, but he doesn’t say what the outcome was in the fight. The only thing Angel says is Danny was young, which seems to imply that he lost to Mikey.
“He fought him in the USA championships and beat him, and then we fought him in the Blue and Gold tournament,” Angel Garcia said to Fighthub about Danny Garcia fighting Terence Crawford twice in the amateurs. “So in the Blue and Gold, they gave it to him [Crawford], but it wasn’t no loser, because the winner got $2500 and the runner got $1500. We still went home with money. So they run with that, saying, ‘Oh, he beat Danny Garcia.’ Beat us now though. I’m talking about Terence Crawford. We fought Mikey Garcia in the National Golden Gloves. Danny was young. He was only 17,” Angel said.
It’s amusing how Angel mentions that there was no loser in Danny’s loss to Crawford, because he still got paid. Danny lost the fight, and that should be the thing that Angel is focusing on instead of him saying that he still got some money out of the fight.
Danny Garcia hasn’t seemed interested in fighting Crawford in the pros. What happened between them in the amateurs is meaningless now. Danny should be trying to fight Crawford now that they’re both pros. When Danny asked recently if he’d like to fight Crawford, he said that he should fight Errol Spence. Some boxing fans think Danny is trying to get Spence to do his work for him.
“You’ve got Crawford moving up. It’s just like Floyd [Mayweather] moving up,” Naazim Richardson said to Fighthub. “It’s just like when Shane [Mosley] moved up, and just like when Oscar [De La Hoya] moved up. When guys have these kinds of styles, as long as they don’t get ridiculous with the weight, if they move up, the skills are going to come with them. We always hear commentators say, ‘Did the punch move up with them?’ If the skills moved up with them, they punch may not be necessary. Crawford’s skills will be coming up, but if a 160 pound dude jumped on Crawford, he wouldn’t go easy. If you throw a 160 pound dude right now with Crawford, the 160 pounder would know he’s in a fight when he gets out of the ring, because Crawford is a special kid,” Richardson said.
It’s a little early for Richardson to be putting Crawford in the same class as Mayweather, De La Hoya and Mosley. Until Crawford starts showing he can beat the likes of Spence, Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter, Richardson should take a wait and see approach with him. As far as Crawford giving the top middleweights a problem, I think that’s crazy talk. Crawford might get hurt if he tried mixing it up with someone like Gennady Golovkin, Daniel Jacobs and Jermall Charlo. Crawford might have a chance against Saul Canelo Alvarez, because he tries to box, and that would play into his hands. Canelo sometimes doesn’t know when to use his natural size advantage in his fights. Crawford might get hurt if he tries following what Richardson says about him mixing it with a middleweight. If’s a mediocre middleweight, then it’s definitely possible for Crawford to do well. But if you put Crawford in with a talented middleweight, he’s going to run like crazy and likely get knocked out once they catch up to him.
