Being in marquee fights is nothing new for Danny Garcia. The 32-year-old from Philadelphia stopped Amir Khan at the height of his career to become the unified junior welterweight champion, dominated Lucas Matthysse when he was in his prime, and sent the legendary Erik Morales into retirement after two dominant victories.
When he moved up to welterweight in 2015, Garcia captured the WBC belt from Robert Guerrero in the first major Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) event on Fox. Garcia lost the belt in a title unification bout against Keith Thurman in March 2017, which peaked at over five million viewers on CBS. Two fights later, Garcia came up short again, losing to Shawn Porter in a narrow split decision for the vacant WBC strap.
Now, "Swift" gets another crack at glory on Saturday evening when he battles IBF and WBC welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. After coming up short in his previous high stakes affairs, the oddsmakers have installed Garcia as high as +300 underdog against one of the best fighters in the sport. Being told he doesn't have a chance is something Garcia's heard his entire career. Garcia understands what's on the line and feels taking on Spence is for his legacy.
"For sure, one-hundred percent," Garcia told DAZN News. "I've been an underdog for my whole career so far. I just don't pay attention to what negative things people say about me. That stuff doesn't bother me. I don't go look at the odds and what negative stuff everyone is saying about me. That's not my job."
On paper, Spence (26-0, 21 KOs) would be the most significant fight on Garcia's (36-2, 21 KOs) resume. Garcia doesn't necessarily disagree with the assessment but also views his other big fights just as important when they occurred.
"At the moment, yes, facing Errol Spence is the biggest fight of my career just like the Khan fight was one of the biggest fights of my career at that moment and the Thurman fight was the biggest fight of my career," Garcia said.