By Dan Ambrose: Trainer/father Angel Garcia says Danny ‘Swift’ Garcia (35-2, 21 KOs) will be returning to the ring on January 25. Angel hasn’t let the cat out of the bag about who Garcia will be fighting, but it probably won’t be against a good opponent.
This is more about Danny staying busy, and not about him fighting someone that the fans want to see him in against.
Danny is one of the two fighters being considered for a March or April fight against WBA Super World welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao. What that means, of course, is that he’s not going to be matched against a risky opponent for his next bout on the 25th of January.
Garcia lost recently to Shawn Porter, and he’s got a 2-2 record since 2017. His two victories have come against Brandon Rios and Adrian Granados. Those aren’t exactly the top tier fighters, are they?
Angel Garcia excited about Danny’s next fight
“Getting ready, baby. January 25th, it’s not announced yet, but I’m giving you first heads up, we’re on,” said trainer Angel Garcia on social media about Danny’s next fight. ”
Boxing fans have been joking on social media, saying that Danny Garcia’s fight on January 25 will be a rematch with Rod Salka. It won’t be him obviously, but it’ll likely be with someone on the same level unfortunately.
Danny Garcia WON’T take risky fight on Jan.25
There’s too much to lose for Garcia in this situation. Considering the quick turnaround that Garcia will need to make, his next opponent could be a lower level guy. The problem that Danny has is his fight will be shown on Showtime Boxing, and it’ll be bad for their ratings if he picks out a poor opponent. He needs to be matched against someone with at least a shred of ability to bring in the ratings.
The former two division world champion Garcia was supposed to be challenging IBF/WBA welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. on the January 25 date, but his car crash has sidelined those plans.
Signs are strong Danny faces fringe opponent
Given that Danny’s next fight STILL hasn’t been announced, there will be almost no time to promote the match when they do name his opponent. That’s a red flat that Garcia isn’t going to be facing a good fighters, which isn’t surprising. His only two wins since 2017 came against Granados and Brandon Rios. It’s kind of par for the course for Garcia to take on a record-padding opponent.
If Team Garcia does choose to face a ranked contender, these are the likely options:
- Sergey Lipinets
- Ray Robinson
- Mikael Zewski
- Jamal James
- Carlos Ocampo
- Keita Obara
- Sebastian Formella
It WON’T be Yordenis Ugas or Josesito Lopez, because those are fighters that would have an excellent chance of beating Garcia. Ugas would be a pure nightmare for Danny. That’s a fighter that recently lost a controversial 12 round decision to Shawn Porter. He out-worked and out-slugged Porter, and found himself on the receiving end up a bad decision.
Danny Garcia hasn’t proven that he belongs at 147. He was a good fighter at 140 during his career, but he’s not the same guy since his move up to welterweight. Garcia’s wins at 147 have come against no one special.
Judge for yourself. Here are Danny’s victories at welterweight:
- Rod Salka
- Paulie Malignaggi
- Lamont Peterson
- Robert Guerrero
- Brandon Rios
- Adrian Granados
- Samuel Vargas
Those are fringe level fighters, and in some cases not even contenders at 147. Garcia has failed when he’s fought good welterweights, and that tells you he doesn’t belong in the division.