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Why Danny Garcia Fails as a Fighter
I feel like Danny Garcia has hit his ceiling; I don't think he will get any better than he currently is, without a new trainer. This will be a long post, so I'll break it down into parts.
A lazy counter-puncher
Any time I see a boxer just standing in front of an opponent and looking for counters, it reminds me of Adrien Broner. Against Porter, Garcia was doing that the whole match. Instead of making Porter commit errors, and capitalizing on them, he tried to wait for Porter to make mistakes coming in. This sounds good in theory, but Garcia doesn't have what it takes to use that style properly. You need to have a great jab, great timing, solid defense and footwork to execute it well. Danny Garcia can throw out a decent jab and has good timing, but he didn't set up much with his jab, didn't let his hands go enough to be effective, and wasn't moving outta the way when Porter was getting off. It's "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee," but Garcia looked more like "sit like a boulder, hit like a pebble." He couldn't control the distance or the pace, and even let Porter work on the inside. The shots he did land on Porter, didn't do anything, so his fixation on counters wound up working against him. How the do you get outboxed by Shawn Porter, of all fighters? From now on, any time I see a boxer being reduced to standing in front of an opponent and looking for counters, I think I'll call it the Broner effect.
A mind of glass
Garcia was on top of the world after taking down a prime Matthysse. Then, he was so shaken up by his gift decision against Herrera, that he had to fight a guy who was ranked like 70 in the division below his. It feels like it doesn't take much to rattle this guy, mentally. I mean, he took a year off after losing to Thurman, and it's not like it was a war either. He was stunned a few times, and outboxed to a split decision (which I feel should've been unanimous, but whatever). I don't think he can accept the truth about the kind of fighter he really is. This is only made worse by the fact that his father just reinforces his delusions. In reality, Danny Garcia is a mediocre fighter, who thrived in a smaller weight division, while avoiding Viktor Postol. He's slow, his footwork is almost nonexistent, and his power is no longer an issue for high level competition. His only real asset now is his chin. I hope he doesn't take another layoff after the Porter bout.
Cannon fodder
Samuel Vargas and Brandon Rios are gonna give you a good ego boost, but the moment you take on a Keith Thurman or Shawn Porter, that ego's getting shattered into a million pieces. The occasional tune-up is okay, but when you move up into a new division, fighting 2 has-beens and a club fighter before a top level one, you've set yourself up to fail. A good challenge will allow you to go back and analyze what you did wrong, so that you could tweak your fighting style and avoid making the same mistakes again. It'll also help you determine whether or not you're ready for the elites. Against cans, you can't really gauge your skill level, because you're supposed to beat the hell out of them. That is, unless you struggle against them, which is a whole other discussion in itself. Even when Garcia's challenged, he doesn't change anything. I think this is why he'd lose worse against Porter or Thurman, the way he is now. He never learns, and neither doesn't Angel.
Dead weight
Angel Garcia, Danny Garcia's father, has been training him even before he became a professional. I'll admit, he did a ****-up job at getting his son to the world level, but I don't think there's anything more he can teach him. Danny Garcia's been fighting with the same style for years now; once Herrera exposed him, it was only a matter of time before he took an official loss. Why? Because Angel never made the adjustments he needed to, to keep these fighters from figuring Danny out. What's really tragic about all this, is that these father/son combinations usually never break off, even if it'd benefit the fighter. At the end of the day, Danny is a grown man, so he's gonna have to put his career before his emotions if he doesn't wanna keep coming up short at the top level. The guy's a knockout loss waiting to happen.
In conclusion, I think Danny Garcia still has potential, but I don't know how much more he can improve at his age. After all, he's been fighting with the same style his entire career. Only time will tell, I guess.
A lazy counter-puncher
Any time I see a boxer just standing in front of an opponent and looking for counters, it reminds me of Adrien Broner. Against Porter, Garcia was doing that the whole match. Instead of making Porter commit errors, and capitalizing on them, he tried to wait for Porter to make mistakes coming in. This sounds good in theory, but Garcia doesn't have what it takes to use that style properly. You need to have a great jab, great timing, solid defense and footwork to execute it well. Danny Garcia can throw out a decent jab and has good timing, but he didn't set up much with his jab, didn't let his hands go enough to be effective, and wasn't moving outta the way when Porter was getting off. It's "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee," but Garcia looked more like "sit like a boulder, hit like a pebble." He couldn't control the distance or the pace, and even let Porter work on the inside. The shots he did land on Porter, didn't do anything, so his fixation on counters wound up working against him. How the do you get outboxed by Shawn Porter, of all fighters? From now on, any time I see a boxer being reduced to standing in front of an opponent and looking for counters, I think I'll call it the Broner effect.
A mind of glass
Garcia was on top of the world after taking down a prime Matthysse. Then, he was so shaken up by his gift decision against Herrera, that he had to fight a guy who was ranked like 70 in the division below his. It feels like it doesn't take much to rattle this guy, mentally. I mean, he took a year off after losing to Thurman, and it's not like it was a war either. He was stunned a few times, and outboxed to a split decision (which I feel should've been unanimous, but whatever). I don't think he can accept the truth about the kind of fighter he really is. This is only made worse by the fact that his father just reinforces his delusions. In reality, Danny Garcia is a mediocre fighter, who thrived in a smaller weight division, while avoiding Viktor Postol. He's slow, his footwork is almost nonexistent, and his power is no longer an issue for high level competition. His only real asset now is his chin. I hope he doesn't take another layoff after the Porter bout.
Cannon fodder
Samuel Vargas and Brandon Rios are gonna give you a good ego boost, but the moment you take on a Keith Thurman or Shawn Porter, that ego's getting shattered into a million pieces. The occasional tune-up is okay, but when you move up into a new division, fighting 2 has-beens and a club fighter before a top level one, you've set yourself up to fail. A good challenge will allow you to go back and analyze what you did wrong, so that you could tweak your fighting style and avoid making the same mistakes again. It'll also help you determine whether or not you're ready for the elites. Against cans, you can't really gauge your skill level, because you're supposed to beat the hell out of them. That is, unless you struggle against them, which is a whole other discussion in itself. Even when Garcia's challenged, he doesn't change anything. I think this is why he'd lose worse against Porter or Thurman, the way he is now. He never learns, and neither doesn't Angel.
Dead weight
Angel Garcia, Danny Garcia's father, has been training him even before he became a professional. I'll admit, he did a ****-up job at getting his son to the world level, but I don't think there's anything more he can teach him. Danny Garcia's been fighting with the same style for years now; once Herrera exposed him, it was only a matter of time before he took an official loss. Why? Because Angel never made the adjustments he needed to, to keep these fighters from figuring Danny out. What's really tragic about all this, is that these father/son combinations usually never break off, even if it'd benefit the fighter. At the end of the day, Danny is a grown man, so he's gonna have to put his career before his emotions if he doesn't wanna keep coming up short at the top level. The guy's a knockout loss waiting to happen.
In conclusion, I think Danny Garcia still has potential, but I don't know how much more he can improve at his age. After all, he's been fighting with the same style his entire career. Only time will tell, I guess.
Angel have to do the same!
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