One interesting fight
By John J. Raspanti
After dominating over-matched Ivan Redkach for 12 rounds last night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, former two-division champion Danny Garcia was asked who he’d like to fight next.
“Either of those fights (Errol Spence or Manny Pacquiao) I would like to have," said Garcia. "My style looks great with both fighters.”
So who should it be?
Spence Jr. is something of a mystery man right now. After miraculously surviving a car crash last October, nobody (except perhaps his doctor) is sure what kind of condition the IBF and WBC welterweight champion is in. Rumors spread that he was worse off than originally reported,
Spence did an interview a few weeks ago.
He seemed basically fine to me, but others detected a slurring of words. That could have been caused by some recent dental work, courtesy of his accident, but Spence hasn’t been seen since.
What’s going on here?
Appearing last night would have been the perfect opportunity to hype a bout with Garcia, especially since Spence and Garcia were supposed to have fought, yep, on Saturday night. But no Spence. Maybe I’m reading too much into this.
Let’s say it doesn’t matter that Spence was off doing something else and couldn’t make it to Barclays Center.
He really does want to fight Garcia. But when?
If I was part of his brain trust, I’d take a tune-up first. One only needs to view the tape of Spence’s accident to conclude that the champ is lucky to be breathing. Really lucky. His souped-up sports car did more tumbles than an Olympic gymnast. He’s fortunate he didn’t kill any innocent bystanders.
So if I’m Spence, I’m thanking my lucky stars, and hugging and kissing my two daughters a little longer. Boxing can, and will wait, and when he comes back, fight a pretty good fighter. Not a good one like Danny Garcia.
Yes, Garcia is good. He’s solid in all areas. He’s a smart fighter who counters very well, but he’s not “swift.” Lose that nickname. He’s never been swift and never will be. I guess solid is boring but, it’s more applicable.
You know who’s still swift?
Manny Pacquiao.
Even at 41, the part-time senator has faster hands and feet than Garcia. Forget his expected win over Adrian Broner a year ago. Defeating the much younger Keith Thurman was wildly impressive.
Pacquiao knocked down the then-undefeated Thurman. He outfought him, and when Thurman was rallying, hurt him badly with a bodyshot. Thurman made a mistake when he went all trashy on Pacquiao. All it did was motivate the old guy, who, let’s face it, after fighting for 26 years and making and spending millions, needs something to get him riled up.
Thurman did it, and paid the price.
So a Pacquiao versus Garcia fight makes sense. Garcia has lost two fights in his career by a whisker. One to Shawn Porter, and the other to the aforementioned Thurman. There’s your common opponent.
But how much longer can Pacquiao keep dipping into the fountain of youth? It’s going to come up dry, sooner, rather than later. It could happen against Garcia.
Compelling stuff.
Lets see it.