By: Hans Themistode
It’s been several years since Danny Garcia was able to look in the mirror and call himself a world champion.
The former two-division belt holder had his championship status forcefully stripped away from him in March of 2017 against Keith Thurman. The two clashed in a welterweight unification bout, which saw Garcia pick up the first loss of his career. Since then, the Philadelphia native has attempted on two occasions to strap world titles around his now bare waist.
In September of 2018, Garcia came up just short against Shawn Porter for the vacant 147 pound WBC title. He dusted himself off and picked up two straight wins before suffering another defeat on the world title stage. This time, against unified champion Errol Spence Jr. in December of 2020.
Despite his recent shortcomings, Angel Garcia, father and trainer of Danny, is still dripping with confidence that his son will lace his shoulders with gold once again. In fact, he’s even gone as far as to give a time frame on when he expects it to happen.
“Listen, Danny will be champion by the end of this year or beginning of next year,” said Angel during a self-recorded video.
Since suffering his recent defeat at the hands of Spence Jr., Garcia has contemplated a move up in weight. With world title reigns at 140 and 147 pounds, the Philadelphia slugger believes that his boxing career would be somewhat incomplete if he didn’t secure one more championship in what would be his third weight division.
“I really want to go to 154, I really do,” said Garcia during an interview with FightHype.com. “My dream was always to be a three-division champion. I feel like that’s the next chapter in my career but I’m not saying I won’t fight at 147 again.”
While Angel Garcia has assured the boxing world that his son will pick up another world title at either the end of this year or early next year, it’s unclear if he’ll attempt to do so at 154 or 147 pounds.
Currently, the 33-year-old former two-division champion has been seen back in training as he prepares to make his return to the ring.