Molina Still Wants Danny Garcia Fight: He Has Holes in His Armor

by David P. Greisman

There was a time when the boxing world thought that Danny Garcia’s next fight would come against John Molina. That’s at least what some in the boxing media reported. It turned out not to be the case.

Garcia, who holds a welterweight world title, will have a non-title bout on Nov. 12 against Samuel Vargas in Philadelphia and then, should he win, go on to a unification fight with Keith Thurman in early 2017.

Molina is plying his craft at junior welterweight right now. But the self-described “big 140-pounder” would be glad to challenge Garcia at 147 in the future.

“I think Danny has some holes in his armor,” Molina told BoxingScene.com. “I believe I have what it takes to upset that. If that fight ever presents itself, we’ll definitely take it with open arms.”

Garcia is 32-0 with 18 KOs, was the true champion at 140 after defeating Lucas Matthysse. He added a belt at 147 when he outpointed Robert Guerrero for a vacant world title.

“I think Danny’s a great champion, but he has a target on his back for being the popular fighter he is,” Molina said. “Whether you love him or hate him, whether you want to call him a quote-unquote cherry picker, the thing about Danny is every time he’s supposed to lose, he’s won, and every time he’s supposed to win, he’s won. Being a fighter, you can’t really talk bad about the guy because he’s done the job every time.”

The Vargas bout is essentially meant for Garcia to fight in front of his hometown Philadelphia fans while keeping the rust off before the Thurman fight. Garcia’s last appearance was against Guerrero in January.

“No disrespect to Vargas. It’s a fight,” Molina said. “I believe Danny when he says that it’s a dangerous fight, because everybody’s expecting him to blow him out of the water. One hiccup and that’s going to be very bad for him, so all the pressure’s on him. But at the same time, everyone wants to see him fight the who’s who of his division.”

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