Former two-weight champ Danny Garcia will return to action for what he hopes will be a victorious swansong, this against Daniel Gonzalez, 22-4-1(7), the fight to take place in New York on October 18th. And “Swift,” who spoke with Ring Magazine, stated that he feels he “did more than enough” to be eligible for a place in The Boxing Hall of Fame.
Garcia, 37-4-(21) and now 37 years old, did score some big wins during his at times thrilling career, the warrior born in Philadelphia defeating, amongst others, Kendall Holt, Erik Morales (twice, “El Terrible” being way past his best at the time of both fights), Amir Khan, Zab Judah, Lucas Matthysse, Lamont Peterson, Paulie Malignaggi and Robert Guerrero.
Is Garcia’s Resume Strong Enough for the Hall of Fame?
Looking back, that is quite an impressive resume, but is it enough for Garcia to make it into the HOF? Garcia has no doubt about it.
“I’m making it into the Hall of Fame,” Garcia said during a break from training for the Gonzalez fight. “I think I did more than enough. I was a unified champion at 140 and WBC champion at 147. I got some great wins under my belt, am a two-division champion. I definitely think I’m a Hall of Famer.”
The Wins Are There, But What About the Losses?
In terms of the defeats he suffered, Garcia dropped decisions in fights with Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter and Errol Spence. While the last time he fought, which was up at middleweight in September of last year, Garcia looked a veritable shell of himself as he was corner retired after nine rounds in a fight with Erislandy Lara. Some fans may well be shocked to learn that Garcia chose to fight again after that bad night.
Maybe Garcia can get a win in what will almost certainly be his final fight, maybe not. But in terms of his whole body of work, let’s ask the question again: is Garcia a Hall of Fame-worthy fighter? It’s actually a pretty tough call. On the one hand, Garcia scored those solid wins listed above, yet on the other, Garcia lost the three biggest fights of his career, this when Thurman, Porter and Spence all handed him a 12-round decision loss. Had Garcia beaten one of these three, then maybe he would be a lock for The Hall. But as it is, Garcia doesn’t quite make it, at least that’s my opinion.
How about yours?