As fans know, Danny Garcia lost both his WBC welterweight title and his unbeaten record on Saturday night in New York, when he was beaten by Keith Thurman via 12 round split decision. And while most people had no argument with the decision going Thurman’s way, Angel Garcia, Danny’s father and head trainer, told the media at the post fight presser that he is “disgusted with the decision” and that he is “disgusted with boxing right now.”
Garcia Snr went as far as to say that he wants his son to retire, right now, for good. Angel, who says Thurman “ran from round six to round 12,” is of course a man who says many things, and it’s extremely likely he will not stick with the thinking he had on Saturday night when his emotions were running high. Garcia is not the first fighter to threaten to quit after suffering a painful loss (although Danny himself never said he wanted to retire, but he did say he felt he’d done enough to have won the fight with Thurman) and he will not be the last.
In reality, Garcia will likely calm down, regroup and get his son back in the gym very soon. A rematch may or may not happen – Thurman, now a two-belt holder, has a ton of exciting big fight options – but Garcia is both young enough and talented enough to be able to come again. No way does he retire. No way does Angel really want him to.
Saturday’s fight was no classic, and it’s true Thurman took his foot off the gas in a major way in the second half of the fight, but Garcia was just not busy enough himself. Thurman was a worthy winner, even if he could have, should have, closed the show in style to leave no doubt. There was no robbery, though – despite what Angel Garcia says. There will also be no retirement.
As to whether Garcia could have won the fight, maybe he could have, but he didn’t deserve the decision. Garcia has done just enough to scrape through fights and get the verdict before and he almost did it again. But the right man picked up the victory on Saturday night.
