Danny Garcia appeared listless as he plodded around the ring on December 5th, 2020. Despite being given a world opportunity against unified welterweight champion, Errol Spence Jr., the Philadelphia native failed to pull out the victory.
Following his fairly lopsided defeat, the now 34-year-old confessed that his love for the sport of boxing had dissipated. That, along with his struggles to make the 147-pound weight limit, forced Garcia to make several changes.
In addition to stepping away from the sport to recharge mentally, Garcia also officially moved up in weight. Thus far, the added seven pounds to his frame has done his body justice as he went on to easily outbox Jose Benavidez Jr. in his junior middleweight debut in July of 2022.
While Garcia has officially inserted his fresh blood into the 154-pound division, he’s ostensibly uninterested in protracting his stay. According to the now vivacious contender, a showdown against Erislandy Lara, the WBA titleholder at 160 pounds, is what he craves above all else.
But while Garcia has yet to end the Cuban’s title reign, he’s already looking ahead to bigger and better things.
“After that, I want the biggest fight possible,” said Garcia to YSM Sports Media when asked what he plans on doing if he usurps Lara. “After that fight, I’ll be the middleweight champion. I’ll fight the biggest fight possible.”
Lara, a former unified titlist at 154 pounds, has called out Garcia on several occasions, going as far as to say that he would meet the Philadelphia product at a catchweight of 155 pounds.
With his eyes widening in excitement, Garcia (37-3, 21 KOs) quickly accepted the 39-year-old’s challenge. Although he respects what Lara brings to the table, at this stage in his career, Garcia is confident that his ability to take a punch and box from the outside will be a bit too much for Lara to handle.
Throughout his career, Garcia has always been willing to play the waiting game. With a long list of highly ranked contenders and current champions continuing to mention his name, Garcia moved away from his normally stoic demeanor.
Of course, a victory over Lara is the first move in his chess game. Nevertheless, if everything goes according to plan, Garcia believes that the dam will ultimately break, leading to him partaking in countless big-time showdowns.
“A rematch with (Errol) Spence, I’ll fight Canelo, GGG (Gennadiy Golovkin), anybody. I want the biggest fights made after this fight.”