By: Hans Themistode
Bernard Hopkins can’t help but gush over the skillset of Danny Garcia. The newly inducted Hall of Famer has sat back and watched for years as his fellow Philadelphian has gone on to pick up big wins and capture numerous world titles.
While Garcia remains one of the top names in the welterweight division, as of late, he’s fallen short in some of his biggest outings. Recently, Garcia attempted to end the title reign of current unified welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. The two clashed near Spence Jr.’s hometown in Arlington Texas, at the AT&T Stadium.
Although Garcia appeared confident, he fell woefully short, losing their contest via unanimous decision. Since then, the now 33-year-old has pondered a move up in weight. In the opinion of Hopkins, there should be nothing for Garcia to think about. Simply put, making the move to 154 pounds should be a no-brainer.
“I believe he grew out of that weight really a year, year and a half ago,” said Hopkins during an interview on Million Dollaz Worth of Game. “But he got down there because he’s disciplined and determined. I think 154 is gonna be a blessing for him. He can eat now, he can eat. His body ain’t in a bottle anymore.”
Throughout Garcia’s career, he’s yet to struggle with making weight. However, he has noted on several occasions that making 147 pounds has become more and more arduous. With the former two-division titlist now leaning towards moving on from the welterweight division, his plans are to take things slow.
“I want to get my feet wet first,” said Garcia during a recent interview. “I would like to fight somebody at 154 and get my feet wet.”
Garcia’s gradual initiation process into his new weight class though, is something that Hopkins believes is unnecessary. In fact, not only is Hopkins against Garcia having a few feel-out fights at 154 pounds, he would love to see him compete for a world title in his first fight seven pounds north.
“I would like to see Danny Garcia get a shot at a different weight class against the champion in that division,” said Hopkins, as he refers to Garcia facing off against Brian Castano. “Not a tune-up, I would like to see him go right to that division and get a champ.”
Argentina’s Castano was last seen in the ring earlier this year on July 17th, against unified champion Jermell Charlo. Although the consensus surrounding their showdown was that Castano did more than enough to earn the victory, Castano was forced to settle for a split decision draw.
Even with many in boxing circles believing that Castano is the man to beat in the division, Hopkins doesn’t want Garcia to eschew from that sort of fight.
“I would like to see him fight that type of fight right away. Go right to the dance, right to it. I believe he’ll be successful at that weight class.”
