Boxing gets a bad rap – but it often deserves to – from questionable outcomes, to an alphabet soup of titles, to quality fights that never get made. It is a sport which most certainly tests the patience of its fan base, let alone the general public. But every once in a while it gets it right. The upcoming match-up between welterweight champions Keith “One Time” Thurman and Danny “Swift” Garcia is one of those moments. Make no mistake this fight matters. Here’s why.
1. Your Watching History
It is only the third time in the sport that two undefeated welterweight champions are meeting to unify the titles. Hard to believe, given that professional boxing is over 100 years old. The Thurman-Garcia bout is in good company along-side Oscar De La Hoya vs. Felix Trinidad and Donald Curry vs. Milton McCrory. Some may also include Leonard vs. Hearns in the mix given that both were superstars in their prime when they fought, however, at the time Leonard had one loss to Roberto Duran. Irrespective of this, make no mistake, win, lose or draw both Keith Thurman and Danny Garcia are now a part of boxing history.
2. Daddy Issues
It wouldn’t be a proper bout without some theatrics. Thurman vs. Garcia has it in the form of Garcia’s father and trainer – Angel Garcia. Never one to hold his tongue the elder Garcia stepped into it at the very first press conference for the fight. Making a number of anti-gay slurs and calling Thurman the N-word on a number of occasions. The conduct was enough to bar him from all future pressers and sparked an investigation by the New York State Athletic Commission to determine whether he will be allowed to serve as trainer on March 4th. During a conference call Danny Garcia tried to explain his father’s actions telling us. “My dad’s from inner city Philadelphia. So he wasn’t being racist,” he said. “I know it’s not right, but people talk like that every day in the city of Philly or in any inner city you come from. So he wasn’t being racist. He was just talking like where he’s from. I’m not saying it’s right. I’m not saying it’s wrong. But at the end of the day, it is what it is.” Noble for a son to come the defense of his father, but can Garcia Sr. keep it together on fight night? Will be interesting to see!
3. Boxing The Way It Used to Be and Needs to Be
This is the type of fight fans beg for. Two undefeated fighters in the prime of their careers fighting the best in their weight class. After being subject to constant retreads of old vs. young, the prospect vs. the has-been, the franchise vs. a tomato can, we get the best vs. the best. Oh yes and it is free. Fans are not being duped into buying some outrageous pay-per-view telecast. The fight will air on CBS for free. This is the first time in nearly 40 years that a fight of this caliber is being shown on free television. Those old enough to remember, can recall how this used to be the rule and not the exception. This is what boxing needs more of and for one Saturday night were getting it.
4. The Outcome
During a pre-fight conference call Keith Thurman summarize it best when he said “the winner of this fight is going to be the man of 147 division. Lately, the welterweight division, whoever is at the top of 147, kind of has been the face of boxing and it is due to Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao and things of that nature…147 is a tremendous weight class and the winner of this fight is going to get a little bit of what I call ‘spotlight priority’. They’re going to step up into the world of boxing. They’re going to get talked about a lot more.” Thurman hit the nail on the head, the welterweight division is prime real estate in boxing and a unified title holder is like having the nicest place on the block.
