By: Hans Themistode
As the saying goes, somebody’s 0 has got to go. But for former two division world champion Danny Garcia, he wasn’t expecting those words to have any effect on him.
For ten years, Garcia beat the odds on multiple occasions. The first time the doubt in his skill surfaced, came against former champion Amir Khan in 2012. Garcia made his doubters look silly as he won via fourth round stoppage. Garcia found himself on the wrong end of the odds once again soon after. This time against Lucas Matthysse one year later. Once again, the betting public looked foolish when Garcia won a close unanimous decision.
Garcia looked like one of the best fighters in the world. That is until he took on Keith Thurman in 2017. The oddsmakers got things right this time around as Thurman took home a close split decision win.
The taste of the first loss in his career never sat well with Garcia. And since then, he’s picked up a few quality victories against Adrian Granados and Brandon Rios. Sandwiched between those wins was the second loss of his career, to Shawn Porter. But still, Garcia has screamed at the top of his lungs for a rematch with Thurman.
Fresh off a loss to Manny Pacquiao in mid July of 2019, Thurman seemingly has nothing on the immediate table. With that being the case, he now seems willing to entertain a rematch.
“I heard Danny and his father are always interested in the rematch,” said Thurman. “To them, it’s a grudge match. They believe that they can get me, and they would like to redeem themselves. So, that’s always a fun fight, going back in the ring with Danny Garcia.”
“I believe that I can do more damage to Danny Garcia,” Thurman said in reference to a second fight. “I think I can out-box him nicely. And I just don’t think that he’s ever really changed. I don’t think he’s gonna utilize his jab any more than he has done in the past. I see him being a little predictable. He’s just gonna want what he’s gonna want, which is the big punch. I loved watching him miss all day the first time.”
Sure Thurman may have won his contest with Garcia, but in reality that win looks much more like a loss. Thurman suffered numerous injuries, which kept him out of the ring for close to two years. When he did comeback, he barely scraped by fringe contender Josesito Lopez before losing a split decision contest to Manny Pacquiao.
Calling Thurman a shell of his former self seems like a bit of a stretch, but no one views him as the best in the division anymore.
Still, even with that being the case, Thurman just might be able to use a rematch with Garcia to vault himself back to the top of the division.
“Prior to Thurman-Pacquiao, Thurman-Garcia was the biggest fight of my career,” Thurman said. “It was the highlight of my career, still one of the highlights of my career, because that’s when I became the unified champion of the welterweight division. So, it was just a great fight, a great show out at the Barclays [Center]. We just get so much love out there in New York. I think the rematch could possibly be back in New York. It possibly could be a Vegas fight. But I like the fight.”
“I think it’s a great next fight. I’d be really cool with that. Of course, we’d have to see what else is on the table. I think it’d be worthy of a title eliminator, thus the winner gets a champion next. With all that said, I’m gung-ho about signing on the dotted line. Believe that.”
