By Chris Williams: Keith Thurman thinks it’s a good idea for Danny Garcia to face Errol Spence Jr. in his next fight after watching him being forced to battle hard for 12 long rounds to beat Shawn Porter last Saturday night. Spence fought a lot differently against Porter, 31, than he did in his previous contest against Mikey Garcia.
It was an entirely different looking Spence in this fight. Instead of boxing Porter, Spence slugged with him for 12 rounds, and made the fight tough for himself.
Danny Garcia saw weakness in Spence says Keith
Thurman likes the power that Garcia (35-2, 21 KOs) brings to the table for a fight against new unified IBF/WBC welterweight champion Spence Jr. (26-0, 21 KOs).
Thurman says Danny saw something in Spence last Saturday that made him confident enough to leap into the ring and call him out at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Spence, 29, got hit a lot in the process of grinding out a 12 round split decision over the always tough Porter (30-3-1, 17 KOs).
Porter got hit a lot too, and some of the shots that he was tagged with would have knocked out a lot of fighters. The left hook that Spence dropped Porter with in round 11 would be a real problem for Danny Garcia.
For the second time in a row, Spence had to go the 12 round-distance to defeat an opponent that he was expected to knockout.
Danny Garcia needs to become pressure fighter to beat Spence
Garcia will need to pressure Spence the way Porter did for him to have success. The way Danny fights is he stands back, looking to throw counters. He has a low workrate, and he can be easily outworked by Spence and other top fighters at 147.
Garcia was able to beat lesser fighters like Lamont Peterson, Adrien Granados, Brandon Rios and Samuel Vargas with his low punch volume. If Danny lets Spence have time to load up on his shots, he’ll knock him out.
Garcia lacks the hand speed that Porter has going for him. Without speed, Garcia will be at the mercy of Spence’s big shots.
Thurman: Why shouldn’t Spence fight Danny Garcia?
“Why not?” said Thurman to Fighthype when asked if Danny Garcia should get Spence fight next. “But that’s the fans. Any real fan with any education knows that’s not a fight that’s easy to make,” said Thurman about Terence Crawford being the next opponent for Spence.
“I’m not even going to get into that. Outside of that, Errol Spence is the kind of champion where we haven’t seen him up against everybody,” said Thurman.
Garcia deserves a title shot against Spence as much anyone in the welterweight division. Danny’s 2 out of his last 4 fights, but he’s a better option for Spence than these fighters:
- Julian Williams
- Yorgenis Ugas
- Amir Khan
- Shawn Porter – rematch
- Jessie Vargas
- Kudratillo Abduqaxorov
- Sergey Lipinets
WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford can’t be included on the list, because Spence already ruled him out for his next fight. At the post-fight news conference last Saturday, Spence says he’s not worried about Crawford right now, because his last fight brought in only 100,000 buys.
Thurman says Danny Garcia hits harder than Shawn Porter
“Danny Garcia is a unique style just like Shawn Porter was a unique style,” said Thurman. “Danny Garcia is a power puncher, and a counter puncher. I fought Danny, and I fought Porter, and I can say 100% that Danny Garcia hits a lot harder than Shawn Porter. He [Spence] took plenty of shots from Shawn Porter today.
“What happens if Danny lands a big counter? Danny hopped into that ring real quick [following the Spence-Porter fight]. That means he saw something that gave him confidence to do that, you know?” said Thurman.
Garcia does hit harder than Porter, but he doesn’t throw as many shots as him. If Spence is out-landing Garcia 3 to 1, he’s not going to win the fight against him.
Danny Garcia’s dream is to unify the 147-lb division
“He said to me at the desk that unifying as a welterweight champion is a dream for him,” said Thurman. “So instead of getting two belts by beating two champions, all Danny Garcia would have to do is beat one champion to be a unified champion at 147.
“It’s a little bit of a shortcut, but he can’t pass that kind of opportunity down. He got in the ring, and there’s some trash talking there. Let’s do it, man. This is boxing, baby. Let’s fight,” said Thurman.
Danny’s popularity has waned with his losses to Thurman and Porter, but he can turn things around with a victory over Spence.
Both gentlemen can hold their heads high after that fight. Big up to the new unified welterweight champ @ErrolSpenceJr Looking forward to what’s next for both fighters. #SpencePorter
— Lennox Lewis (@LennoxLewis) September 29, 2019
