By Kenneth Friedman: Danny Garcia will be IBF/WBC welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr’s next opponent when he fights again in 2020 or 2021. Garcia (36-2, 21 KOs) is Spence’s WBC mandatory challenger, and he’s OK with that fight.
Garcia has beaten a lot of quality fighters during his career, but he’s come up short when he’s fought the talented fighters. He lost to Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter in 2017 and 2018.
Slugging with Garcia not a good idea
Garcia, 31, has recently turned things around in winning his last two fights against fringe contenders Ivan Redkach and Adrian Granados.
Spence could have difficulties against Garcia if he chooses to stand and slug with him in the same way he did in his last fight against Shawn Porter. It’s not a good idea for Spence to go to war with Danny unless he knows for sure that his chin is still intact following his car crash.
Spence (26-0, 21 KOs) is looking forward to the fight against Garcia, as he says he prefers to fight him next than go over old ground and face Shawn Porter in a rematch. Garcia has a powerful left hook counter that he likes to land, and that shot can knock out anyone in the division if he lands it square.
The boxing public would probably choose Porter as the option for Spence’ next fight due to how action-packed and competitive their match was last September on Fox Sports Pay-per-View. Some people think Porter did enough to deserve the win in that fight.
Spence: Danny Garcia fight makes the most sense
“It’s a fight that makes sense. Danny Garcia is a very tough fighter,” said Spence to Premier Boxing Champions. “H’s accomplished a lot, and it’s a fight that really makes sense. It’s a fight that can definitely happen next.”
The fight between Spence and Garcia was supposed to happen in January, but Errol’s car crash last October upset those plans. Garcia even entered the ring after Spence’s previous fight with Porter so they could start building up interest from fans in that fight. Unfortunately, the car crash messed things up for that clash.
Garcia isn’t the guy that boxing fans want to see Spence fight. They want Spence to battle WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford and WBA champ Errol Spence Jr. Crawford is a fight that Spence says “must make sense” for it to happen.
In other words, it’s got to be a match that will bring in the pay-per-view buys, and it’s not likely that it will. Crawford has already attempted PPV on to occasions against Viktor Postol and Amir Khan.
The numbers were low. Given Crawford’s track record, it doesn’t make sense at all for Spence to fight him unless something changes. If Crawford proves himself as a viable option for Spence by showing that he can bring in buys, then it’ll be worth it.
Spence wants Pacquiao and Crawford after Garcia
“There are so many fighters that I still need to beat like Danny Garcia,” Spence said when asked if he’d like to fight Shawn Porter again. “Shawn Porter kind of goes back to the other side.
“Until I beat Danny Garcia, Terence Crawford, and Manny Pacquiao, I doubt that I’ll fight Shawn Porter again,” said Spence.
Porter is now a low priority for Spence. He’s got bigger fish to fry against Garcia, Pacquiao, and potentially Crawford. The Pacquiao fight is the one that Spence covets most of all. He wants to face the former eight-division world champion, Pacquiao, before he walks away from the sport.
Porter will need to rebuild for him to have a shot against Spence later on down the road in 3 to 4 years. It’s not impossible for Porter to get a rematch with Spence one of these days, but it’s going to require that he pick up some significant wins to make that happen.
