By Dan Ambrose: Trainer Angel Garcia wants former welterweight champion Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman to give Danny Garcia a rematch this year so that he can avenge his loss to him.
The former WBA/WBC 147-lb champion Thurman (29-1, 22 KOs) defeated Danny by a close 12 round split decision exactly three years ago on March 4, 2017, and he’s ready to get revenge or that loss.
Thurman blowing up in between fights getting too big
It’s disappointing to see that Thurman, 31, has only fought twice since his win over Garcia (36-2, 21 KOs) due to a combination of injuries and him enjoying his success. Thurman has been put on too much weight before his last two fights and turned his training camps into de facto fat farms. He’s had to burn over 30 lbs of fat for his last two fights, and his performances have suffered.
In his last fight, Thurman suffered his first career loss in losing to Manny Pacquiao by a 12 round split decision on July 20.
One Time hasn’t fought since, but he’s supposed to be back later this year once his injured hand heals. He also needs to drop a lot of weight that he’s put on since the Pacquiao contest.
Angel Garcia calling Thurman out to face Danny
“We’ll get Thurman. We’ll take a rematch with Thurman,” said Angel Garcia to Fighthype about him wanting his son Danny to face ‘One Time’ in a rematch. “We’re here to fight. We’re ready. Garcia is here for everybody at 147. We want everybody. We’re not desperate, We’re just here to fight.”
Danny, 31, is coming off of a 12 round unanimous decision win over fringe contender Ivan Redkach (23-5-1, 18 KOs) on January 25 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Garcia didn’t look so great in slowly beating a fighter that wasn’t in his class in 33-year-old Redkach. He won the fight by the scores 117-111, 118-110, and 117-111.
Garcia couldn’t knockout Redkach, and it should have been able to. This is the type of fighter that the top welterweights are expected to stop, but Danny couldn’t do it. That could be a sign of age starting to creep in for Garcia.
“Manny too, but Manny is talking about other stuff right now,” said Angel. “He’s saying Mikey or Spence or two other Europeans. Nobody is calling the champ [Danny Garcia] out. So who’s the most feared? We’ll take a rematch with Thurman. That’s a great fight.”
Thurman hasn’t made it clear what his plans are for his next fight in 2020, but he does want to come back later this year. He needs to lose a lot of weight though. He’s packed on a considerable amount of pounds since his defeat to Pacquiao last summer, and he’ll lose to lose the tonnage before he can return to action.
Thurman says weight problems slowing his return
“The only thing that’s making me go later out in 2020 is my weight management,” said Thurman to Fighthub. “I’m disappointed in how I prepared for the Manny Pacquiao fight. In preparation for Pacquiao, I lost 35 lbs in 11 weeks. I don’t think that was a proper approach for me to be the best that I can be. So much of the training was weight loss,” said Thurman.
He’s got a lot of weight to lose already, and it wouldn’t be surprising if Thurman is around the cruiserweight range with his weight right now. It’s unrealistic for him to come back and fight Danny Garcia if he has to burn off offer 30 lbs of weight during a training camp.
That’s too much weight for a welterweight to cut before a fight. You’ve got to give Thurman credit for being able to drop that amount of fat before his last two fights against Pacquiao and Josesito Lopez. With that said, it also explains why he didn’t perform well in those bouts.
Is the success that Thurman has had in the last few years causing him to slack off too much in between fights?