(Photos Courtesy of Showtime/Amanda Kwok) By Allan Fox: WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia (28-0, 16 KOs) will taking the first step this Saturday night towards what could be an eventual big money bout against WBA/WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr by taking on lightweight Rod Salka (19-3, 3 KOs) at a catch-weight of 142 pounds at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Garcia wants to get his feet wet to find out what he’s got in store for him when he moves up to 147 to face the top guys. That’s why he asked for the fight with Salka to take place at welterweight instead of 140. Garcia wants to find out what it’s like to be hit by a welterweight, and he will in theory be getting hit by a guy that is likely over 140 on Saturday.
Garcia thinks that his opponent Salka isn’t getting credit by boxing fans who are overlooking him because they’ve never seen him fight before, and because he’s a lightweight that doesn’t have a top 15 ranking.
Garcia said “I don’t know why Salka is being underestimated by fans. At the end of the day the fans can think what they want to think, but I know what I bring to the table. I bring excitement. I bring fun and I’m going to get the job done.
Garcia could drop back down to 140 for his next fight after if he opts to face IBF light welterweight champion Lamont Peterson later this year in a unification match. That’s still not a sure thing, even though it’s something that’s been talked about. Danny isn’t willing to commit to the fight.
Peterson wants to take the fight because he feels confident that he can beat Danny using his inside game. He’s got the skills to neutralize a lot of the things that Garcia likes to do in the ring, such as hit and hold. It’s quite possible though that Garcia will choose not to take the fight against Peterson, because of what’s at stake.
If Garcia loses the fight, then he can forget about a big money cash out fight against Mayweather Jr. There’s no way that Garcia would get a fight against Mayweather after a loss to Peterson.
It’s even unclear whether Garcia’s adviser Al Haymon is even interested in a Garcia-Peterson fight. Both of them just happen to be fighting on the same card this weekend, but that doesn’t mean that Haymon is going to match them up against each other. It’s likely a situation where Peterson was included in order to beef up the card rather than Haymon having a grand idea of matching Garcia and Peterson together later this year.
In looking at who Garcia is facing this Saturday in Rod Salka, it seems that Haymon doesn’t want to take any chances with Garcia. He seems to be working him towards a bigger fight, and that fight could very well be the Floyd Mayweather Jr match-up. It’s a win-win fight for both Mayweather and Garcia. A Peterson vs. Garcia fight isn’t a big deal because Peterson doesn’t have a huge fan base outside of the Washington, DC area.
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