_1658967842.jpg)
It’s been almost nine years since Danny Garcia defeated Lucas Matthysse in what might have been his finest hour. When it was over, there was no argument.
Garcia was the best Jr. welterweight in the world and then…
It could feel like Garcia has been chasing that night ever since, but the pace of his career makes that a hard case. Matthysse capped a career-making streak preceded by consecutive wins over Kendall Holt, Erik Morales, Amir Khan, and Zab Judah. That he was often beating big name foes as an underdog made it all the more dramatic. Placed on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather-Saul Alvarez, Garcia delivered on one of the biggest pay-per-view stages of all time.
And then…
In the years since that night, it’s hard to think of any wins that ever came close again for Garcia. Just when it seemed like Garcia was poised for even more, his career has played out in a way that suggests we saw the highest he was going to get without the context to know it yet.
At the time, and in retrospect, it felt like a missed opportunity for Garcia not to at least publicly chase a shot at then-welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather. It might not have secured a fight anyways, but it was hard to understand why the conversation never really even started. The stars should have been aligned after the card they shared together but they weren’t. Garcia likely would have lost but who knows? Marcos Maidana gave Mayweather a hard night the first time when they faced off twice the following year. Could Garcia have done the same?
Garcia has fought a dozen times in the years since Matthysse to mixed results. He was a little lucky to get the nod on the cards against Lamont Peterson. He was a whole hell of a lot lucky to get the judge’s favor versus Mauricio Herrera. He handled other underdogs in concussive fashion.
A move to welterweight never quite worked out the way best laid plans would have intended. Robert Guerrero might have been his best win at any weight since 2013. Garcia won a belt that night and delivered a hell of a performance but his tenure in the division has been more about others having better nights. He competed well in losses to Shawn Porter and Keith Thurman but lost going away as Errol Spence returned from a horrible car accident.
Still, the Spence loss is the only time where it felt like Garcia was never really in a fight. He took his shot at most of the best in the division. No one can take that from him and the credibility “Swift” built in his crowning run has never really left him. He was once the best in the world in a weight class and even after Spence it was easy to imagine Garcia paired with just about anyone else at welterweight and know we’d see a good fight.
We’ll see if that’s still true this weekend.
This Saturday (Showtime, 9 Pm EST), a now-34-year old Garcia makes his Jr. middleweight debut after more than a year and a half out of the ring. It’s a measured step as he faces 30-year old Jose Benavidez Jr. (27-1-1, 18 KO). Benavidez, once one of the most highly regarded prospects in the sport, returned from a three-year layoff last year following a knockout loss to Terence Crawford in 2018.
Benavidez, whose career was sidetracked in part by outside injuries, performed well against Crawford but looked rusty last year in getting a draw against unheralded Francisco Torres.
It’s not the best main event of the year but it’s an interesting crossroads affair. Benavidez is unlikely to get another better chance to jumpstart his career. Garcia has an opponent who, if vulnerable, could allow him the sort of win that opens the door for something bigger.
Garcia would be an underdog if he were to challenge undisputed Jr. middleweight champion Jermell Charlo but it’s hard not to think of it as a possible direction. If that’s where we arrive sometime next year, it would be an admirable attempt given the size, power, and dimensional advantages Charlo would hold.
But it’s a chance for one more big pursuit, one more big win, one more chance to play the underdog and bookend a career. In what feels like a breathing period for boxing, it’s a little something to keep the chains moving until the big stuff gets here in the fall.
Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, a member of the International Boxing Research Organization, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at [email protected]