Danny Garcia 'chasing greatness' as he challenges Lara for 160 title
Former 140 and 147 champion ending two-year layoff to go for belt in third division in the co-feature of Canelo-Berlanga PPV card
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LAS VEGAS — Danny Garcia, who has won world titles in two divisions, made it clear he was not retired during his two years away from the ring. On the contrary. He still harbors boxing goals.
“Chasing greatness” is what he calls it.
But Garcia also knows he is probably not going to be boxing for the long haul. At 36, he has other things in his life.
During his time away from the ring he and his wife had two children. He has also long had interest in boxing promotion and founded Swift Promotions, which has so far put on two cards, one in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and one in his hometown of Philadelphia, and he hopes to continue to build it.
But that’s for the future. At present is Garcia’s return to the ring and a move up in weight to challenge Erislandy Lara for his WBA middleweight title.
The bout is the co-feature of the Canelo Alvarez-Edgar Berlanga super middleweight championship fight that headlines a PBC on Prime PPV on Saturday (Prime Video PPV, PPV.com, DAZN PPV, 8 p.m. ET, $89.99) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
For Garcia, the fight represents the opportunity to win a title in a third division, which he believes would be a ticket to the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He has won titles at junior welterweight, where he unified belts and was also the lineal champion, and welterweight.
He has had one fight at junior middleweight, that coming in his last fight in July 2022, when he ended a 19-month layoff and won a majority decision over Jose Benavidez Jr. But Garcia said he was not retired during the layoff. In fact, he said the fight with Lara was supposed to happen in August 2024. However, Showtime was nearing the end of its run of covering boxing and it did not make the cut for its schedule.
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