It might not be as highly anticipated to the majority of boxing’s pessimistic fans and jaded members of the media, but the fault does not fall on the two fighters, former junior welterweight kingpin Danny Garcia and California-based veteran welterweight Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero, who square off Saturday night on Guerrero’s turf in Los Angles at the Staples Center.
Boxing is a niche sport with a smaller group of hardcore fans compared to the other major sports in America. These fans are enthusiastic and dedicated to watching the sport they love at every level and on any platform. However, they can also be incredibly cynical, and this matchup between Garcia and Guerrero has only worked to further display boxing fan’s sometimes contemptuous nature towards the sport as they’ve criticized the value this fight presents.
In reality, this isn’t the biggest matchup in the welterweight division, and it is not the most high-profile fight available to Danny Garcia. But that does not take away from the matchup we have in front of us at the moment.
Danny is not a perfect fighter, and by that, I only mean he isn’t Floyd Mayweather Jr., and by that, I only mean he should not be expected to reproduce the same results as Mayweather in his fight with Guerrero back in 2013.
Guerrero has certainly looked flawed lately, and even more so than he looked against Floyd if that is even possible. He has had a number of bad outings and questionable performances, but he maintains a certain level of danger and value that all fighters with a “never quit” attitude possess.
The problem is everyone considers Garcia to be in the same realm as he was when he was reigning over the 140lb division. They all see Garcia in the same light and of the same quality a fighter he was when he defeated Lucas Matthysse and Amir Khan. And they are matching that guy up with the Guerrero that, evening though he earned the official win, arguably lost to Aaron Martinez, who was considered a glorified club fighter at the time, and before he changed everyone’s perception with his remarkable 2015 campaign.
In the fans’ eyes, this is the Garcia that went from loveable underdog to unquestionably dominant during his time at 140lbs fighting the Guerrero that was thoroughly beaten by both Floyd and Keith Thurman. The lack of appreciation stems from seeing a fighter that could be the best at welterweight and will get a chance to prove it versus a guy who was never the best at welterweight and received his opportunities to prove otherwise.
But the element that makes this fight great could come down to weight, but it also is a worthy matchup based on the missing element that is “wait,” as in we are not waiting to see this fight.
The way this fight should be viewed is the promising, but not fully acclimated to, welterweight in Danny Garcia fighting the proven and fully sized 147lb fighter in Guerrero.
Danny is vulnerable to any legitimate welterweight right now, and the level of danger rises the further up in ranks his opponent exists. We can call Guerrero a top 15 welterweight for sure, which may be a bit modest on either side of the argument depending who you ask, but he was once considered a top-tier welterweight well within the top 10.
Until Garcia, who will never be a huge welterweight even after he has fully grown into the weight class, can prove his power and comfort levels are fully adapted from his time at 140 to his current status at 147, we have to consider any true welterweight in the top 20 a threat, at least to a certain degree.
And Garcia can be the same skilled fighter he once was at junior welterweight, but size advantage plays a tremendous role in fights, especially with a fighter like Garcia and the skill set he possesses.
In a recent interview with Thaboxingvoice’s Nestor Gibbs, Garcia’s strength and conditioning coach, Tony Davis, spoke about Garcia’s move up from 140 to 147. You may remember that Danny had several fights out of the 140lb weight limit of junior welterweight before fully committing to becoming a welterweight fighting at the 147lb limit.
However, this was out of necessity. We learned that Danny was having trouble making junior welterweight, but I can guarantee that his decision to take catch-weight fights was based on his team’s reluctance to give up advantage. Basically, Garcia was no longer a junior welterweight, but he wasn’t quite yet a welterweight, either.
Now, Davis says that Garcia’s physical tools are falling in line and correlating to what they once were at 140, specifically his power, which was a key attribute of his.
“He is hitting hard. He’s doing all the things that he needs to do. He’s well prepared, he’s in shape, conditioned, everything’s on point.”
Garcia-Guerrero is being fought for the vacant WBC welterweight title as part of a sort-of-tournament. Ironic that this belt, vacated by an undersized welterweight in Mayweather, is now up for grabs in a fight with another undersized welterweight. Although, this fight may prove Garcia is finally acclimated, which according to Davis is a very real possibility.
The way Davis tells it, Garcia may have been ready to move up to the full 147 limit long before his August 2015 fight with Paulie Malignaggi. If that’s the case, then perhaps Danny will explode with power in a major way come Saturday night. But it could also mean that Garcia’s power is lost forever in the move up in weight class.
Regardless, Davis believes his fighter is prepared, and perhaps more prepared for this fight than he has been over his past several outings because now Garcia is no longer focused on making weight—leaving more time to improve his technique as well as strategize his specific approach for the opponent from fight to fight.
“It’s been a lot easier because for Danny, to me, it seemed like it reenergized him to go back to 147. And like Angel said, we don’t have to focus so much on the weight aspect towards the tail end [of training camp]. We can just continue to work on our strength, our power, our endurance and technique for Angel and those guys in the ring. It’s been wonderful.”
