Angel on Thurman-Porter, “why fight each other when you could fight a Salka”

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Shawn Porter- Keith ThurmanIt is not strange to see Angel Garcia, trainer/father of welterweight contender Danny Garcia, on the opposite side of a popular opinion. In fact, it is a pretty common occurrence for Angel to create controversy and upset the masses with a single interview.

 

However, it was still surprising to hear Angel’s recent comments in a video interview published on Thaboxingvoice’s YouTube channel. The topic of the proposed matchup between Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter, which is rumored to be taking place March 12th, was brought up to Angel with the angle that the winner becomes an obvious opponent for the winner between his son Danny and Robert Guerrero in their PBConFOX feature fight this weekend.

 

Instead of the typical “we don’t back down” response, Angel admitted he is perplexed by the eagerness of both Thurman and Porter to get in the ring with one another so quickly.

 

“I think that’s a good fight (between Thurman and Porter). I don’t know why they calling each other out because they both elite fighters. I mean, it don’t make sense, they’re still young. I don’t want people to misunderstand what I’m saying because I want to sound right. I don’t want to sound like it’s not a great fight. It is a great fight, but at the end of the day somebody’s going home with an ‘O,’” Angel said.

 

Angel’s point is that Thurman and Porter could’ve waited to fight each other in order to build up the fight, thus raising the demand of the fight which would result in higher purses. The trainer from Puerto Rico made several references to Mayweather-Pacquiao, a fight that took roughly five years to make from the time of its growing demand. The buildup made it the biggest fight in boxing’s history, at least from a financial standpoint, but there was plenty criticism that the fight took so long to make that the demand tapered off some.

 

Angel acknowledged that every fighter maintains the right to proceed with their career in whatever fashion they see fit, making decisions they deem correct for their own path.

 

“They want to do that it’s up to them. They’re making good money to be calling each other out. At the end of the day, it’s about retiring wealthy. It’s up to their team, the coaches and all that. It don’t make sense calling each other out. They both elite fighters.”

 

With a slip of the tongue, Angel actually said the risk of fighting each other despite both Thurman and Porter being marquee names in the division without a necessity for such a fight was up to their managers. However, he quickly took it back, presumably after realizing that both fighters were managed by Al Haymon.

 

You can certainly see Angel’s point, but the most troubling thing he said was a direct reflection on some of his Son’s own career choices in opposition.

 

“I’ll put it to you this way, why would you fight each other when you could fight a (Rod) Salka,” Angel reflected.

 

Salka represents a fighter that presents no real danger and no real benefit other than a payday. Danny made the decision to fight Salka in August of 2014, a decision that everyone criticized. Fans and media alike were appalled by Salka as an opponent.

 

The opposition presented was so unsatisfactory that the sanctioning bodies would not approve Salka as an opponent, and therefore, they did not allow Garcia to defend the junior welterweight titles that he owned at the time. Essentially, the sanctioning bodies turned down free money they would’ve received in sanctioning fees.

 

For Angel to offer up this route to Thurman and Porter is quite ridiculous, but perhaps his point is still somewhat valid if he used another, more talented example compared to Salka.

 

TBV’s Nestor Gibbs, who conducted the interview with various members of the media, challenged Angel’s opinion. Angel responded to Gibb’s comments by saying of Thurman-Porter, “You don’t need that right now. Listen what I’m saying, it’s about the bank being loaded. It’s not about the glory. That’s why Oscar is at where he’s at right now.”

 

It didn’t take long for Angel to backtrack just a bit, although he never changed his opinion on the subject, instead he admitted that it is about the glory, too, when the glory is worthy. What makes the glory worthy in Angel’s eyes? Based on his comments, for Angel, the glory is worth fighting for after the fighter has secured a hefty cushion in his bankroll and when said glory also lines up with a glorious payday (e.g. Mayweather-Pacquiao).

 

The Oscar comment was a bit strange because the precarious predicament Oscar is in stems from a promoter standpoint, which I’m assuming was Angel’s point because why would he question the former cash cow’s decisions to chase glory throughout his career as a fighter when often times they were attached to a substantial payday.

 

Still, Angel made the point that these fighters get punched in the face for a living, which is a hazard that no other athlete has to concern themselves with—the only exception being hockey, but fighting isn’t a prerequisite by any means.

 

In this context, Angel has a point. Fighters take an elevated risk in any fight and there is nothing wrong with them trying to secure the most from their career early on, especially when a particular baseball, basketball and football player gets paid the same throughout the year regardless of the level of opposition from week to week.

 

“They could’ve waited and gotten more fights under their belt and became bigger of a star and then meet each other.”