By Jake Donovan
Whether you prefer his 12-round win over Lucas Matthysse or his come-from-behind knockout of Amir Khan, the best wins of Danny Garcia’s career have never managed to transition to career-defining wins.
By definition, a career-defining win would be that where observers point to that specific moment whenever a fighter’s name enters the conversation. Yet, Garcia’s career has never been defined by his earlier strong run while atop the 140 lb. division, but for what has transpired in recent times.
That very lack of respect extended to the unbeaten Phila-Rican has trickled over into his upcoming clash with former two-division titlist Paul Malignaggi. The bout takes place this weekend at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, headlining live in primetime on ESPN (Saturday, 9:00 p.m. ET).
Just as he’s done every time out since turning pro in 2007, all Garcia (30-0, 17KOs) plans to come of each fight is a win.
He did it at the prospect level, racking up wins while facing an array of competition. He did it at the toughest stretch of his career, beginning with his Oct. ’11 win over former 140 lb. titlist Kendall Holt to enter the title fray, and all the way through his World 140 lb. championship win over Matthysse in Sept. ’13, a bout many believed he would eventually succumb to the frightening power of the Argentine slugger.
Yet even after the Matthysse win, it was as if Garcia was begrudgingly referred to as the best 140 lb. fighter on the planet. It was a stance he perhaps already claimed following his July ’12 knockout win over Khan, which was wedged in between a pair of victories over faded legend Erik Morales amidst a Fighter of the Year-level campaign.
Even if there remained any lingering doubt, the win over Matthysse was confirmation enough that Garcia, for his soft-spoken nature and penchant for deferring to his team rather than personally issuing challenges, was in fact among the very best in the world.
It still wasn’t enough for the critics, and his past few bouts certainly haven’t helped that cause.
“That's just boxing,” Garcia says matter-of-factly of the disrespect that continues to follow his career. “Because I've been the underdog before, I've been the underdog before and I won. And there was like, "Oh, he got lucky." So it's either I'm the favorite or the underdog. I can't listen to none of that stuff after just going through each fight like I was—mentally prepared, physically prepared going in and get the job done.”
Feeding the critical fire in more recent times, wins over Mauricio Herrera and Lamont Peterson were not well-received by the general public. The showdown with Herrera was Garcia’s first fight following his decision win over Matthysse, and also doubling as his first career bout in Puerto Rico where his parents—including his father, trainer and personal hype man, Angel Garcia—were born and raised.
It wasn’t a homecoming to remember, as Garcia started strong but faded down the stretch while Herrera picked up steam. The momentum shift created the illusion that Garcia deserved the first loss of his career, which tends to happen when the underdog finishes strong and is the fresher of the two by fight’s end.
A similar occurrence played out in his win over Peterson live on NBC this past April. Not only did several observers take issue with the majority decision that landed in Garcia’s favor, but also the fact that the long awaited clash—which was preceded by a night of mismatches eight months prior—took place above the 140 lb. limit, where Garcia reigned as champ and Peterson held an alphabet title.
The fight was Garcia’s second straight above the limit, having previously knocked out Rod Salka in a gross mismatch last August, one where his opponent moved up more than two full weight classes. The pairing with Peterson was no mismatch, and a fight where both fighters had to dig deep in order to get the best of each other.
For Garcia, it was another night where there was little left in the well due to fighting at a weight at which he was on borrowed time.
“I'm not making any excuses. He had a good game plan,” Garcia said of the stiff challenge presented by Peterson in their non-title fight. “I just didn't feel strong at that weight class anymore. Before, when I hit guys, I could feel the power going through my arms. And when I land a shot, I knew I would hurt them.
“I just didn't feel strong at the weight class no more. I just felt like I was hurt myself. I just didn't feel as strong at 140 anymore.”
Saturday’s showdown with Brooklyn’s own Malignaggi (33-6, 7KOs) will mark Garcia’s third straight outside of 140 lbs., and his first as a true welterweight. By his own admission, it was a move that should have come long ago.
“I just feel felt like losing the weight was affecting my performances, mostly in the later rounds of big fights because I will use a lot of my energy losing weight,” Garcia admits. “I think I'm just going to - I've been feeling a lot stronger and a lot better at 147. I think I should have been moved up maybe after the Matthysse fight.
“But I'm here now and I feel good. I feel strong. I'm training hard. And we're working on new things just to get faster and stronger at 147.”
Perhaps among those new things he one day gets, is the respect his career long ago deserved. It likely won’t come this weekend, given that he is a heavy favorite to beat who many speculate to be a well-past-prime version of Malignaggi.
Until that day comes, all Garcia can continue to do is aim to please, but in the meantime continue to do what’s best for his own career. The good news is, at age 27 there remains plenty of time to add to his resume and eventually win over his critics – even if more of a wish list than an actual goal of his.
“If it's good enough for the media and it's good enough for the fans, I'm happy. I'm still happy because, it takes a real man to go in there and put gloves on and fight another man for 12 rounds,” Garcia points out. “It takes a lot of discipline. It's usually hard work for ten weeks straight waking up every day, doing the same thing, sweat, blood, tears, all that stuff.
“So I would love for the fans and the media to love me. But, it is what it is, they're tough on me and that's what keeps the chip on my shoulder and that's going to make me train hard every day.”
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox