By Nick: WBC Welterweight champion Danny “Swift” Garcia (33-0) will be facing the WBA Welterweight champion Keith “One Time” Thurman (27-0) in what seems to be, the most anticipated fight in the welterweight division on March 4. But, why now? Now that I have your attention from the title, I’d like to share an interesting perspective that has caught my attention that I’m sure true boxing fans might find interesting as well.
A lot of speculation has surrounded this fight. More recently with the outrageous and unorthodox psych out tactics performed by Angel Garcia, father and trainer of Danny Garcia.
Angel has been his son’s biggest supporter in the choosing of Danny’s opponents since he started his career, and this time around, they both seem more than confident in the choosing of Keith Thurman. But as I asked before, why now? Why was now the perfect time?
Some may argue scheduling conflicts with other fights and others may say money disputes were holding up the negotiations. But Danny has been referred to as a “cherry picker” which I find a bit of a stretch, but in this case, could that be the case? Keith Thurman is by no means an unqualified opponent you say? I agree. But is he as prepared as he should be?
Keith Thurman has been on cruise control since his fight with Shawn Porter back in June of 2016 and even said that he wanted to take the rest of the year off after that fight. No surprise there. The fight was a grueling 12 rounds of intense action with hard hitting blows that many saw Shawn winning but the majority saw Keith the victor as did I. It was such an intense fight, that Keith chose to relax and enjoy his victory by doing a bit of traveling and even some light commentating.
This begs the question that, was this the right time for Danny Garcia to take advantage of Keith Thurman while he has been so inactive? Danny just came off a training camp and fight with contender Samuel Vargas in which Garcia won by TKO. The fight with Keith Thurman was announced at that fight and made official shortly after which put both boxers in fight prep.
Danny, however, has been more physically active from his prior camp leading up to his tune up fight and almost immediately after the fight was announced, went right back into training while one could speculate that Keith, has been playing “catch-up” with his training after his time off.
In a recent video, Keith Thurman is seen to be doing some light exercising while appearing to be a bit overweight and sluggish. Although 3 months ago he was seen sparring and doing a bit of rope work, he was not able to be fully committed which brings to light the question which is, did Danny choose Keith Thurman knowing he wouldn’t be fully prepared?
In all honesty, this would be a tremendous strategy and a clever ploy to have Keith train his hardest to cut the weight leaving him to worry about his strength last while Garcia is already in shape and has been for months now. It was also said, that Keith likes an occasional beer and tequila from time to time while partaking in smoking hookah every so often which can be a major figure in facing an opponent who doesn’t smoke or drink in Danny Garcia.
Now to the boxing trolls, this could seem like an early excuse for why Danny wins. Personally, I think Keith is too clever for Danny and has more movement which will keep Thurman more active and allow better chances to land better shots and more effective punches.
One can’t deny the fact that this is a good if not, the best time to face Keith Thurman knowing Danny is already ready while Thurman can potentially be struggling. It makes for a tremendous advantage and even better mind frame going into the fight leaving Danny with more confidence knowing he is more ready than an opponent he chose to face while he has been inactive.
All and all, this fight will determine the new king of the Welterweight division leaving the thrown to be defended from the rest of the lions in the waiting for those belts. Remember that this is just a theory. Don’t take it personal.