Danny “Swift” Garcia is still a relative newcomer to the welterweight division, having just earned his second win at 147 pounds on Saturday night with a decision victory over Robert Guerrero for the vacant WBC world welterweight title — the very same title vacated by Floyd Mayweather Jr. But as elite fighters age and naturally fill out their frames, and also seek to become multiple-division world champions, it’s not uncommon to slowly ascend weight classes over time.
Manny Pacquiao won world titles in eight different divisions; Mayweather did so at five different weights.
While the accomplishments of those two future Hall of Famers border on unattainable, Garcia (32-0, 18 KOs) might be plotting a similar upward trajectory down the road. According to Garcia’s strength and conditioning coach Tony Davis, the thought of Garcia moving up in a few years to the junior middleweight division, and eventually perhaps even the middleweight division, seems not only plausible but likely.
“I see him staying at this (weight) class for the next 2-3 years,” Davis told ThaBoxingVoice.com founder Nes Gibbs in a recent interview. “As far as going up to ’54, ’60 — absolutely possible. It’s very doable. But again, you want to have that slow progression where his walk-around weight compliments his fight weight. So right now ’47 is perfect.”
When asked by Gibbs what Garcia’s ideal walk-around weight is as a welterweight in between fights, Davis cited the low 160s.
“Max out at ’62, 162. I wouldn’t like to see him go anywhere above that,” Davis said. “And if he does, maybe it’s a special occasion. Something that was short-lived, a week or two. But 162 is the ideal walk-around weight for him.”
You can watch Davis’ interview with ThaBoxingVoice.com in its entirety below:
Keep in mind that Garcia is already a two-division world champion, so while it might seem super early to speculate about him moving up — he is, after all, still getting his feet wet at welterweight — it’s certainly within the realm of possibility for him to successfully make the leap in the future. He possesses the talent to do so, it’s just a matter of how his body transforms over the next few years.
The thought of Garcia someday facing the likes of Canelo Alvarez, Danny Jacobs and Gennady Golovkin is intriguing, but who’s to say that those guys won’t have moved up themselves in a few years? Whatever the future holds for Garcia, his team seems to have a very level-headed perspective on his career: Let Garcia focus on the welterweight division right now, but show no trepidation toward challenging him at higher weight classes if and when his body is ready.
