Danny Garcia has one foot out of the door, but he won’t let it close behind him just yet.

The Philadelphia veteran fights at the Barclays Center on Saturday night in what he thinks could be his final fight at the venue, and it could be the final fight of his decorated career.

That is not zero.

Of course, that is something fighters perennially struggle with; walking away and leaving boxing behind is a fight in itself.

Ask Andre Ward, he will say his hardest fight was his 33rd, staying retired.

But ask the 37-year-old Garcia what comes next, he admitted: “That’s a good question.”

Then, having thought about it, he continued: “I’m still involved [in boxing]. I’m still going to be involved in my promotional company so it’s not like I'll be completely out of it, just sitting around doing nothing. Swift Promotions, we’re going to be signing fighters. I’m going to be staying in the boxing world and helping young fighters’ dreams come true because you can’t fight forever. There’s always a new young star. There’s always somebody behind you coming up. Yeah, that’s just the way life is.”

Boxing is also a grueling sport.

Damage is taken on emotionally and physically, and that is something that – after 41 pro fights – Garcia is all too aware of.

“You’ve got to worry about your mental health, too,” Garcia explained. “You can be a boxer for so many years and you can be that way [damaged] after boxing. So it’s a combination of a lot of things. A lot of fighters say that maybe they just miss boxing and they’re depressed because they want to fight. But you never know. This does a lot to your mental in this game. “This is a grueling sport, going in there day in, day out, fighting your heart out in the gym. “Yesterday, I was in there sparring with two young undefeated guys and they were pushing me to the limit. And those are the things that can make or break you, but that’s what you need. That’s just one little piece of boxing. Really, imagine everything [all of the damage] for years. So it could put a big toll on your body.”

Something that has taken a toll on Garcia is the number of quality fighters he has faced, including Amir Khan, Kendall Holt, Erik Morales, Lucas Matthysse, Errol Spence, Nate Campbell, Keith Thurman and many more, but he regrets nothing. He’s content with his achievements, even though he wanted more.

“I would say a lot of people call me an overachiever. It’s funny you say that because I’ve been an underdog my whole career, but I feel like I’ve done a lot in boxing. I fought everyone they’ve put in front of me,” he said.

"I faced 14 world champions. I won titles in two divisions. My dream was to win three. I fell short in my last fight at middleweight [against Erislandy Lara in his previous fight], but I gave it my all. That’s my heart. I’m proud of myself.”

Garcia has had many notable nights. He backs himself for the Hall of Fame when he does retire and, when pressed about his signature victory, he said: “Probably a lot of people say Khan, but I would say Matthysse only because when I beat Khan, people were saying I got lucky and stuff like that. And then after I beat Matthysse, I was an underdog again. So when I went in there and I just beat him, there was nothing else you could say about me. But I would say the Matthysse fight. And I have some other good wins that I like, like Lamont Peterson, Robert Guerrero for the WBC title in California. So there were some good wins.”

Garcia ran an incredible gauntlet from 2010 to 2016, with big fight after big fight.

But there was one bout in 2017, two in 2018, one in 2019, two in 2020, none in 2021, one in 2022, nothing in 2023 and just Lara in 2024.

“I wish I was a little bit more active,” he lamented. “Not [fighting] three or four times a year, but remember, since Spence, I only fought Benavidez and Lara.

"That’s only two fights in four years. If I only got one fight a year, I think I would have been cool. I think the Lara fight would have been a lot different because I went into that fight with a 28-month layoff. I just felt like if I had one fight in between, my mind would have been more in the game and I would have been more sharp mentally. So I mean, it’s the way God wanted it. It’s just the way my story was written.” 

The story has been written, too, without Garcia having faced the two biggest names in his era in Floyd Mayweather Jnr and Manny Pacquiao. He would have liked to have faced both.

“I would have loved to share the ring with those guys at one time,” Garcia said. “I remember when I fought Matthysse, he [Mayweather] fought Canelo. I thought that was next because I was the co-main event. He was the main event. I thought they were setting it up for me to fight him next. That’s what I thought was going to happen, but it didn’t happen. And then I remember in 2019, I think I was supposed to fight Mikey Garcia or Manny Pacquiao in 2019, but I fought [Adrian] Granados. For some reason those fights didn't happen. Everything happens for a reason, but I would have loved to share the ring with those guys.”

A "24/7"-style build-up show with the Mayweather family and Danny and his father, Angel Garcia, would have been compelling. The outspoken Angel has been divisive, but Garcia has nothing but praise for his dad.

“There’s no Danny Garcia without Angel Garcia. So there’s nothing really, really else I can say about that. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Angel,” Garcia said matter-of-factly.

However, asked whether he thought his father pushed boundaries with his opinionated ways, Danny smiled: “Uh, a few times, but once you understand who he is, that’s who he is. He’s like that all day, every day. And then once I just let him be yourself, that’s when everything just started working.”

It has been said that more than one opponent has succumbed to Angel’s mind games in big fight-build ups.

And as staunch a supporter as Danny is of his father, he is satisfied with what he has done in his own career.

He has few complaints.

Garcia, 37-4 (21 KOs), turned pro 18 years ago, and if he could do it again he would do much of it the same way, including listening to the advice of those who know more than he does.

“The No. 1 thing about this sport is listening to your trainer,” he said. “I’m glad I was a good listener. I feel like I skipped a lot of things because I listened so much. You know, I didn’t have to go through the failures because I listened. But, if I was telling young Danny Garcia anything, I would just say I’m proud, you know. Young Garcia worked his butt off.”