Danny Garcia has shown that the 140 lb division he currently reigns over is no loner suitable for his talent and size. Weighing in at an unofficial 155lbs at the time of his fight aginst Rod Salka which was his most recent fight Danny was the much bigger, stronger and consequently the more effective fighter. Employing a catch and shoot style with a touch of what I like to call Bang-em Boxing Danny made quick work of Rod Salka. You may be asking yourself what exactly is Bang-em boxing. Let me explain.
I define Bang-em boxing as a means to refer to a style of fighting when one fighter throws punches while his opponent is in the act of also throwing a punch. The goal behind this approach is to land a clean punch on your opponent while they are focused on offense so much that they a not thinking anything about defense. Punches that go unseen and land are the punches that are the most effective. With Danny’s bread and butter punch being his left hook, Danny is able to tuck his chin and protect himself while he generates power by rotating his hips and following through on the punch. This approach suits Danny’s talents perfectly and has brought him much success in the form of scintillating knockouts. Erik Morales, Amir Khan, and most recently Rod Salka have all being KO’d by Danny courtesy of a left hook they did not see coming. Danny has basically cleaned out the Jr welterweight division. Right now it seems the only Challenge remaining at Jr welterweight is making the 140lb weight limit. Yes Lamont Petterson still fights at 140 and yes that would make him a viable opponent for Danny Garcia. I just think based on what I have seen of Petterson lately if that fight were to take place now Danny would come out victorious. For Danny it may be time to move up 7lbs and establish himself in the weltherweight division.
While I am predicting a win for Danny Garcia if he and Lamont Petterson get into the ring with each other I am not writing Lamont off because I think he lacks talent. I truly feel Danny Garcia would get the best of Lamont Petterson because of Lamont's current approach in the ring. Lamont is a fighter who welcomes a firefight. Even in situations where he is out gunned Lamont will not hesitate to pull the trigger. When it suits Lamont better to use his quickness and boxing ability, Lamont tends to sit in the pocket and bang with his opponent often letting the emotion of the fight guide his attack approach as opposed to doing what makes the fight easiest for him to win. I find Lamont often does more when at that particular time doing less would be more beneficial to him. A prime example of this is when Lamont took on the hard hitting puncher from Argentina, Luca Matthysse. I feel Lamont could have out boxed Lucas Matthysse when they fought back in 2013 but he chose to bang with a guy who arguably is the hardest puncher in the Jr. Welterweight division. I feel Lamont would get drawn into a firefight with Danny Garcia and would ultimately suffer the same faith as he did when he faced Lucas Matthysse.
For Danny I think 147 offers more Challenges than what is available at 140 . A young lion needs to active and they need to be challenged in order to grow. Danny Garcia is a young lion. If he wants to continue to grow as a fighter and add to his legacy now is the time to make the move north 7lbs. With Floyd Mayweather, the Current Welterweight kingpin and Pound for Pound number 1 fighter looking to retire with in the next 13 months, the time is perfect to move to the division. In 13 months Danny Garcia could be primed to challenge for a world title. I say 13 months because the goal should be to earn a title shot, win the title and keep it for more than just 1 title defense. While Danny maybe good enough to win a title at welterweight right now without any true experience at 147 I don’t think he would be able to keep it. Success stems from preparation. Preparation is a product of experience. True experience requires time and time is something you can not rush.