Danny "Swift" Garcia has no opponent for his next fight lined up, and fans hoping Manny Pacquiao would be in the mix will be sad to learn that Top Rank CEO Bob Arum has nixed that potentially exciting scrap.
"No, not Danny Garcia," Arum told Phil Star. Garcia (31-0, 18 KO) has been criticized roundly for his matchmaking since 2013, his failure to make weight in his last several fights at junior welterweight, and taking a soft fight vs. Paulie Malignaggi in August in his debut as a welterweight. Not only would facing Pacquiao restore some of Garcia's credibility, Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach badly wants Garcia next.
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"I want Danny Garcia, that's my choice. That's the easiest fight in the f*****g world, you can tell his dad (Angel Garcia) that as well," Roach said. "His dad psyched Amir Khan out but he won't psych Pacquiao out. I promise. Pacquiao will knock Garcia out. I like the dad but he talks too much s**t."
Stylistically, the fight is intriguing. Pacquiao is the top offensive fighter of his generation, while Garcia is a powerful counter-puncher. And even though Garcia's fights since late 2013 have left much to be desired, he does have legitimate wins over Amir Khan, Lucas Matthysse, and Erik Morales at junior welterweight.
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Arum did not give any reasoning for his dismissal of Garcia, but it is not difficult to connect the dots to Garcia fighting under Al Haymon's Premier Boxing Champions banner. PBC fights have excluded HBO's fighters, such as Gennady "GGG" Golovkin, Sergey "Krusher" Kovalev, and Tim Bradley to fight in more limited pools of talent. Arum also is in the middle of litigation against Haymon for essentially trying to create a boxing monopoly.
The end result is boxing fans once again losing out on a premier matchup based on promotional politics.
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