Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman isn’t intimidated by Danny ‘Swift’ Garcia moving up to 154 and calling him out for a fight up there.
Former WBA/WBC welterweight champion Thurman is interested in fighting Danny at 147 if it were a title eliminator, but other than that, there are other fights for One Time.
Thurman (29-1, 22 KOs) doesn’t see the point of the former two-division world champion Garcia (36-3, 21 KOs) going up to 154. He thinks he’ll still beat Danny at that weight or any weight, and he thinks his hand speed won’t improve.
That was a problem that Danny had when he was fighting at 140, and it’s not going to get better with him going up to 154.
As far as Thurman is concerned, Danny is showing laziness by not staying at 147 and making weight.
At 5’8″ Garcia could have problems if he gets in there with the 6’0″ IBF/WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo. Even 5’8″ WBO 154-lb champion Brian Castano would be a bad match-up for Danny due to his high work rate.
Moving to 154 won’t help Danny’s speed
It’s obvious that Danny’s hand speed won’t improve by him going up to 154, but he’s probably making the move because he needs an excuse for why he lost to Errol Spence Jr last December.
“He was slow at 140, so it ain’t going to change nothing,” said Keith Thurman to Fighthype about Danny Garcia moving to 154 and calling him out.
“I believe I got Ws on everybody. That’s how it is,” Thurman continued. “The fight with Pac was a time issue. I could have gotten the motorboat kicking a little bit earlier.
“But outside of that, put me in the ring again, and I’m betting on the ‘W.’ You put me in the ring with pretty much everybody, I’m going for the W.
“I don’t know what these boys think, I don’t know what Danny thinks with what benefactors he has in moving up in weight and calling me out,” said Thurman.
Keith already lost to Manny Pacquiao in 2017, so it’s unknown why he’s assuming that he can beat all the other welterweights.
He’s been out of the ring for two years, so it’s silly for him to assume he’s gotten better.
Thurman sees Danny being lazy
Danny must be going through sure torture in draining down to 147 for his fights because he looked huge in his last fight against Errol Spence Jr. last December.
Garcia has to look in the mirror and realize that he’s probably not going to be better off at 154 than he was at 147 or 140.
If Danny gets in there with a big junior middleweight like Charlo, Tony Harrison, Jeison Rosario, or Julian Williams, he’s going to be miserable.
Once Danny gets beaten soundly by one of the bigger 154-pounders, he’ll likely return to the 147-lb division and give up on his experiment.
“To me, it just sounds like a lazy fighter,” Thurman said about Danny Garcia. “Make weight, boy. Be light on your feet, do something.
“It’s not the end of the world him moving up in weight because maybe that’s on his To-Do list but get a little revenge match back.
“Get some confidence but then go and fight some 154-pounders. How often have we watched 140-pounders fighting each other at 147.
“I think the article said ‘make it a title eliminator’ like I said. Whatever I do, as long as there are champions right after that, I’m really okay with that.
“There’s a champion today, there’s a champion tomorrow. I’m going after a champion. That’s what I do.
“Yeah, I love the Danny fight. I loved it before. I think I’d do it better again. So anybody that is rematching Thurman, I just think it makes my life easier,” said Thurman.
Garcia didn’t let his hands go against Spence
There nothing impressive to see from Danny in his loss to Spence, as he was outworked through the first 11 1/2 rounds.
That little flurry that Danny threw at the end wasn’t nearly enough for him to make up for the first 11 rounds that didn’t let his hands go.
“Yeah, he didn’t let his hands go until five seconds of the 12th round or something,” said Thurman when asked if he’d seen the Errol Spence Jr vs. Danny Garcia fight.
“You saw that flurry at the end [by Danny], you saw that final flurry? That final flurry, and then he thanked God right away that he didn’t get knocked out.
“He was being very defensive, he didn’t want to let his hands go. I just think he wanted to be in there and do what he could, but I think he was being a little timid.
“I think his dad [Angel Garcia] was trying to get him to throw more punches the whole fight.
“His corner or whoever was in his corner was trying to get him to throw more punches the whole fight,” said Thurman.
Danny has become another Adrien Broner with his low work rate, and he’s going to have problems if he doesn’t fix that issue.
Danny not as sharp against Spence
Errol is fighting at a higher level than Garcia, and 147 is his natural weight. Danny is a pumped-up 140-pounder, and that’s not going to change no matter how much he eats or lifts.
“He was in good positions on Spence,” said Thurman. “I think he didn’t let his hands go.
“If he’s going to fight with me and he’s going to let his hands go, then do it.
“That boy needs to let his hands go if he wants to get some victories. Moving up in weight is not going to be the issue.
“No, I think he was a little sharper in his performance against me. One thing I will say is they [Spence and Danny Garcia] were both live cannons in that fight.
“So I know why Danny was timid because Danny always throws the knockout punches, and Spence was like, ‘You ain’t the only one. I got this wide left hook too.’
“And they were both dodging each other’s KO shots all night, but Danny didn’t mix nothing up in the middleweight.
“We know that Errol always gets back on that jab, and it was just fundamental boxing that allowed him to get dominated like that,” said Thurman about Danny Garcia.
