Danny Garcia: I’m going to go to the body of Thurman

By Dan Ambrose: WBC welterweight champion Danny Garcia says he’s going to attack WBA champion Keith Thurman’s weak spot on March 4 by going after his body and trying to hurt him. Thurman seems to have a weakness when it comes to taking body shots.

Garcia and his dad Angel Garcia are working on their game plan for their fight next month on Showtime Boxing at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Garcia says he’s not just going to attack Thurman’s body. He’s going to be looking to land head shots as well. Whatever opening the 28-year-old Thurman presents to him, Garcia says he’s going to take advantage of it.

This is a big fight for both Thurman and Garcia, as it’s a unification match between two unbeaten 147lb fighters. The winner of the Garcia-Thurman fight will be perceived as the best fighter in the welterweight division. They may not in fact be the best fighter, but they’ll still be perceived as the best due to the winner having two belts.

“I got a good game plan,” said Danny Garcia via fighthype.com. “I’m going to make sure I stick to the game plan. Going to make sure if we need to adjust, we’ll adjust. I’ve been in a lot of big fights. On March 4th, I’m going to show the world again that I’m a great champion. I feel extra motivation because it’s a big fight. If he wants to box or if he wants to slug, then that’s what we’re going to do. I feel like the sharper boxer. I’m the more battle tested fighter, and come March 4th, I’m going to show it again. For sure, we are going to go to the body. We’re going to work everything – body, head, everything we can possibly work. We got a good game plan. Body shots are definitely in the game plan. That’s definitely key, jab my way in, be smart, cut off the ring if he wants to move. We got to go in there and make adjustments just like we always do,” said Garcia.

It should be interesting to see if Thurman can handle the big body shots from Garcia or not. Thurman used a lot of movement in his last fight against Shawn Porter last July. Thurman won the fight by a 12 round unanimous decision, but it wasn’t always pretty to watch.

Thurman appeared to actually be running from Porter at times. The boxing fans wanted to see Thurman stand and fight rather than landing a shot and then running away to avoid getting hit. Thurman wants to be seen as the replacement for Floyd Mayweather Jr., but he doesn’t stay in the pocket like him when he fights.

Thurman’s style is more of a hit and run than stand and defend like Mayweather. Garcia says he’s going to be looking to cut off the ring to force Thurman to fight him on March 4th. He’s going to do his best to make Thurman stand and fight whether he wants to or not.