Danny Garcia (36-3, 21 KOs) is making a change.
After competing as a Welterweight for the last six years, the former two-division world champion is taking his talents north to the Junior Middleweight division.
“I did everything I was supposed to do at 147 even though I didn’t unify the division like I wanted to, but I still became a champion,” Garcia told SouthBoX Radio (via BoxingScene). “The next chapter of my career is at 154. I’ll go up to 154, and I’m still a bigger name than all the dudes at 154. They need someone like me in that division to help them bring more light to it.”
After becoming a unified champion at 140 pounds, the now 32-year-old Garcia moved up in weight and scored a majority decision victory over Lamont Peterson in his Welterweight debut in 2015. During his time at 147 pounds, Garcia beat the likes of Paulie Malignaggi, Robert Guerrero, Brandon Rios, Adrian Granados, and Ivan Redkach.
With the win over Guerrero, Garcia won the vacant WBC title but only defended it once before losing a closely fought split-decision to Keith Thurman. He again challenged for the WBC title in 2018 but came up short against Shawn Porter. Most recently, the Philadelphian was outclassed by unified titleholder Errol Spence late last year.
Although he’s now ready to make another title run in a new division, Garcia would surprisingly like to run things back with Thurman, who’s spent most of his career as a Welterweight and is coming off a July 2019 loss to Manny Pacquiao.
“Me and [Keith] Thurman can fight at 154,” Garcia said. “My goal in boxing was to be a three-division world champion at 140, 147, and 154. I fought everyone at 147 and 140. I thought I beat [Shawn] Porter and Thurman.”
There’s no denying that Garcia, who fights under the PBC banner, will have options when it comes to his new weight class. PBC is currently home to 154-pound champions Jermell Charlo and Brian Castano and former titleholders Julian Williams, Tony Harrison, Jeison Rosario, and Jarret Hurd.
Regardless of who he’s matched up against, however, Garcia feels as if the move up in weight will only benefit him, especially from a physical standpoint. After all, the former champion has been involved in the sport for years, and typically, weight cutting only continues to take a toll as fighters age.
“I’ll be more active at that weight; I’ll be strong and throw more punches,” Garcia promised. “I’ll be a lot sharper and stronger. Sometimes losing all of this weight doesn’t help you, it just drains you and stresses you out. As you get older, you have to move up in weight so you can feel more comfortable and stronger. Just like every other great in the history of boxing, they all did it.”
