DALLAS – Angel Garcia gets aggravated whenever anyone suggests Errol Spence Jr. is the “A” side in Spence’s upcoming fight against his son.
Danny Garcia’s father and trainer is quick to remind people of his son’s strong resume and accomplishments. The outspoken, elder Garcia believes his son has achieved more than the unbeaten Spence and has faced more imposing opposition overall.
Danny Garcia (36-2, 21 KOs) has lost only a 12-round split decision to Keith Thurman and a 12-round unanimous decision to Shawn Porter, whom Spence beat by split decision in his last fight 14 months ago. Handicappers have still made Spence a 5-1 favorite over Garcia entering their 12-round fight for Spence’s IBF and WBC welterweight titles Saturday night at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
“Everybody’s looking at it like Danny’s never been there before,” Angel Garcia told BoxingScene.com. “Danny’s been a champion in two divisions. To me, I don’t look at Spence like he’s on top of Danny. I’m serious. He’s not even eye-to-eye with us. He’s under Danny. I respect him as a fighter, but his resume I don’t respect. So, when people say that to me, it’s kind of like slapping me in the face. I look at it like another test for Danny, where people are doubting him again. What I’m gonna say is, here we go again. They’ve been doubting Danny since he was an amateur, so it’s nothing new to us.”
The 30-year-old Spence (26-0, 21 KOs) will fight for the first time since sustaining cuts to his face and body and dental damage in a one-car accident in October 2019. Spence insists he has fully recovered physically and mentally from that scary accident.
The 2012 U.S. Olympian could’ve chosen a lesser opponent in his first fight back, but Spence picked an elite ex-champion who is commonly considered one of the top six fighters within their stacked division. Garcia has shown an iron chin throughout his 13-year pro career and has beaten a long list of former champions, including Nate Campbell, Robert Guerrero, Kendall Holt, Zab Judah, Amir Khan, Paulie Malignaggi, Lucas Matthysse, Erik Morales, Lamont Peterson and Brandon Rios.
If he upsets Spence in their FOX Sports Pay-Per-View main event, however, it’ll mark the first time Philadelphia’s Garcia would have beaten an undefeated world champion who is in his physical prime.
“People put it like Spence is supposed to make us,” Angel Garcia said. “He ain’t making nothing. We’ve got a name, too. We’ve got a bigger name than him. He’s just a champion. That’s it. He’s not bigger than Danny. He’s not. We chose Dallas. We made the call on Dallas, because we wanted fans there. But you’ve gotta understand it’s 50-50 down the line. It’s not like he’s making all the calls. I want people to understand that, that Danny’s not coming in there as an opponent.”
Spence-Garcia will headline a four-fight pay-per-view telecast that’ll start at 9 p.m. EST and 6 p.m. PST ($74.99).
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
