We’ve seen Danny Garcia and Jarrett Hurd share the stage at Barclays Center a couple of times–most recently on Saturday, January 20, 2020 where both men earned unanimous-decision victories.
Both fighters won with relative ease, but each man was also booed by the anxious Brooklyn crowd who was thirsty for a knockout.
Hurd, who was coming back from his first defeat in 2019 at the hands of Julian Williams, wanted to show that he could be more defensively responsible and use his jab. While he was able to box well, plus deliver a knockdown in the 10th and final round, the old Hurd that was happy to eat three power punches to land one of his own was nowhere to be found the crowd wasn’t happy about it.
But this is boxing, and the game is to hit and not get hit.
The problem is that Hurd spoiled fans with so many action-packed fights. He skyrocketed to popularity with a more crowd-pleasing style than what he showed on Saturday night, but as he said, he doesn’t want all of his fights to be Fight of the Year candidates.
Garcia on the other hand seemed poised to stop Redkach in the mid-to-late rounds, but for whatever reason, he didn’t have the energy to put the pedal to the metal.
After the fight, Garcia mentioned that weight gain could have been the issue for his lack of energy, as he lost 12 pounds to make weight for this fight.
While Angel Garcia–Danny’s father and trainer–disagrees that weight was an issue during this training camp, the father-son duo both feel like 154 is a viable option.
“I don’t think it was the weight, Danny can make 147 easy,” said Angel Garcia. “[At 154] Danny is ready.”
Danny Garcia said earlier in the week that he’d be willing to move up to Junior Middleweight after grabbing one more title at 147. If a big fight entices him, perhaps the move could come even sooner.
With Jeison Rosario’s upset victory over Hurd’s lone conquerer Julian Williams only one week old, it likely leaves Hurd out of that loop for the foreseeable future as Williams has declared that he wants an immediate rematch.
What about Jermell Charlo? Would he step up to face Hurd?
It didn’t happen when both were champions, so at this point it may not be a risk that Charlo feels interested in taking if Hurd isn’t putting any hardware on the line.
And this is where a potential Swift vs. Swift matchup could come into play. Both men are big draws who can pack a huge crowd at Barclays Center. They both could also be searching for a marquee name if things don’t go their way.
Garcia is obviously eyeing Errol Spence and Manny Pacquiao for a strap at 147, but if he can’t land either those fights perhaps a move to 154 could happen sooner rather than later.
While the size and strength of Hurd would seem to be too much for Garcia, we have seen the Philly veteran defeat big punchers before–namely Lucas Matthysse.
With arguably the best chin in boxing, Garcia would be making a huge statement by moving up and facing Hurd.
Hurd on the other hand would be facing another big-name foe who he won’t necessarily have to go to war with–something he seems keenly interested in these days.
Will it happen? Maybe not. But a battle of the Swift’s is not as far fetched as we once may have thought.
