Danny "Swift" Garcia defeated Lamont Peterson on NBC on April 11, his second consecutive non-title fight at a catch weight. After the fight, Garcia indicated he has plans on moving up to welterweight, where bigger challenges and paydays await. One man, Marcos Maidana, is eagerly calling out the division's new star.
"We mentioned to (Maidana adviser) Al Haymon that Marcos wanted (junior welterweight champion) Danny Garcia for the second half of the year, but that was three months ago," Maidana's manager Sebastian Contursi told ESPN.com. "After (Lamont) Peterson we don't think Danny would take it."
Maidana himself made waves on Twitter after the fight, claiming neither Garcia nor Peterson would be able to hold up if he fought them.
Garcia struggled during the Peterson fight. In the early going he was given rounds by the judges because he was bringing the fight to Peterson, who was content to use his movement to frustrate "Swift." He wasn't aggressive enough though, and when he switched to a more offensive approach later in the fight it wasn't enough.
Maidana is a different fight than Peterson, however. Maidana brings much more power to the table, but Garcia's proven to fare better against stationary, offensive fighters because he prefers to counter punch. Slicker fighters like Peterson and Mauricio Herrera have given Garcia fits, while he fought well as an underdog in 2013 vs. feared knockout artist Lucas Matthysse.
There's no word yet on who Garcia will fight next, but a Garcia-Maidana scrap would be highly anticipated, even though Maidana is coming off two straight losses.
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