By Sean Jones: Danny Garcia says he’s got two more fights left at 147 before he moves up to 154 to go after the WBC junior middleweight title that is currently held by Jermell Charlo.
The former two-division world champion Garcia (36-2, 21 KOs) wants to capture a title in a third weight class.
Before Danny ‘Swift’ moves up to 154, he’s got to attend to his title shot against IBF/WBC welterweight champion Errol ‘The Truth’ Spence Jr (26-0, 21 KOs) on November 21 on Fox Sports pay-per-view.
Danny Garcia is the underdog
That’s a fight that the 32-year-old Garcia that many boxing fans are expecting him to lose, and the oddsmakers see it that way too. It’s arguably the toughest opponent for Garcia’s 13-year pro career, and it could be a real problem for him.
What Danny doesn’t want is to move up to 154 off the back off a loss to Spence, especially a lousy knockout defeat. Garcia has been fighting at 147 since 2014, and he briefly held the WBC welterweight title from 2016 to 2017 after defeating Robert ‘The Ghost’ Guerrero by a close 12 round decision.
In 2017, Danny lost his WBC title to Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman by a 12 round split decision.
“I definitely feel like it’s the right time, it’s Danny Garcia time. It’s time for me to go up there and take what’s mine because I am the true champion,” said Danny Garcia to Brian Custer’s Last Stand podcast.
For Garcia to be thinking about moving up to 154, he must view WBC junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo as being ripe for the picking.
We know that Charlo (33-1, 17 KOs) is a flawed fighter from watching him lose to Tony Harrison in 2018. Jermell, the weaker and the smaller of the Charlo twins, has struggled at times in his career against the likes of Austin Trout, Vanes Martirosyan, and Demetrius Hopkins.
Charlo = the weakest link at 154
Many boxing fans thought Charlo deserved a loss to Martirosyan in 2015, and he almost lost to Trout and Hopkins. If Danny doesn’t take too much punishment against Spence, he would have an excellent chance of beating Charlo, who is the weakest link of the champion at 154 right now.
Danny would be catching Charlo at the right time, given that he seems to be focused on living the life of a nouveau riche. Charlo doesn’t look like he’s got his mind into boxing like he did before he suddenly fell into a lot of money.
“I’m the true WBC champion at 140 and 147. I had a 6-7 year reign with that, I had a little break now it’s time for me to come back and take what’s mine,” said Garcia.
It’s hard to count what Danny did at 147 as anything special, as he’s lost to the best guys he’s fought in the weight class.
Garcia has fought nine times at welterweight since moving up to the division in 2014, but he hasn’t fought a lot of talented opposition. Hence, it’s the reason why some boxing fans have nicknamed Danny “Cherry” Garcia.
Garcia’s critics see him as having fought a lot of weak opposition, both at 140 and 147. There have been far too many tune-up fights for Garcia and not enough matches against top-level opposition.
Danny Garcia’s experience at 147:
- Lamont Peterson
- Paulie Malignaggi
- Samuel Vargas
- Keith Thurman
- Adrian Granados
- Ivan Redkach
- Robert Guerrero
- Shawn Porter
- Rod Salka
Danny has fought limited opposition at 147
Thurman and Porter are the only fighters at 147 that Danny has fought that have talent, and he lost to both of those guys. Now he’s about to face Spence, and Garcia may lose to him as well.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that Garcia can’t beat Charlo, as he’s a vulnerable champion, and his mind doesn’t seem to be into the sport at this point.
If Garcia faces Charlo right now, he’s got an excellent shot at beating him. But as far as the other top 154-pounders like Jeison Rosario, Erislandy Lara, and Jarrett Hurd, Danny might have problems with them.
“I would say two, this one [against Spence] and one more and then I’m going up to 154,” said Danny. “My goal is to win three divisions and until that happens, I feel like the Garcia legacy isn’t complete.”
It’s always good to win world titles, but Garcia shouldn’t get confused about what that means. Just because he beats a paper champion doesn’t necessarily mean he’s the best fighter in a weight class.
Danny won his world titles at the past against these fighters:
- Erik Morales
- Amir Khan
- Robert Guerrero
Morales was a great fighter when he fought at 122, but by the time that Danny fought him in 2012, he was 36 and well past his prime and not a good fit at 140. That division was well about Morales’ best weight class, and he wasn’t the same guy he’d been a decade earlier.
Garcia needs to concentrate
Danny should stay focused on the Spence fight right now, as if he starts looking past that match, he could get knocked out. Thurman was embarrassing Garcia in the first six rounds of their fight in 2017, and he probably would have stopped him if he didn’t suffer an elbow injury.
Garcia has only fought one good fighter since then with his match against Porter in 2018, and he lost to him. Since that defeat, Danny has taken a couple of tune-ups against Adrian Granados and Ivan Redkach, both of which he won.
We know Danny can beat the 2nd tier fighters at 147, but Spence is a different type of guy. If Spence is genuinely 100% as he says he is, then Danny could wind up getting knocked out for the first time in his career.
What we don’t know is if Spence is having lingering problems from his car crash last October in which he was thrown from his Ferrari. If Spence is only 50% for this fight, then Danny has a real chance of beating him. For Spence to defeat Garcia, he’s got to be 100%.
A loss for Garcia against Spence won’t be the end of the world for him, as he can still move up and beat Charlo. But it would be wise for Danny not to stay at 147 for too much longer before he makes his move.
Charlo is facing IBF/WBA junior middleweight champion Jeison Rosario next month on September 26, and there’s a good chance he’ll lose that fight. Charlo is the easier fight for Danny Garcia than Rosario.