Danny Garcia has faced a plethora of dangerous punchers, including Errol Spence Jr, yet ‘The Truth’ is not even considered among his hardest-hitting opponents.
Instead, ‘Swift’ claims he experienced more pronounced power against Keith Thurman, who he faced in his first WBC world welterweight title defence in 2017.
Ultimately, Garcia lost a split decision after giving a strong account of himself, before losing another tight verdict against Shawn Porter the following year.
The American was then presented with a second chance to reclaim his WBC belt in 2020, only to suffer a clear unanimous decision defeat against Spence.
But while Thurman was perhaps the biggest puncher he faced at 147lbs, the power was on another level when Garcia challenged WBA middleweight champion Erislandy Lara in 2024.
Back then, Garcia had just ended a two-year layoff and, in his first outing at 160lbs, was contending with a significant size disadvantage against his skilled opponent.
In the end, Lara scored a dominant ninth-round stoppage, with Garcia telling YSM Sports Media that the Cuban, along with Thurman and Lucas Martin Matthysse, are the three biggest punchers he has ever faced.
“I would say Matthysse, Thurman and Lara might be the biggest punchers I’ve faced. I don’t know if it was my layoff, or whatever, but every time [Lara] hit me, I felt it.
“I don’t know if it was the layoff or the weight, but he was strong.”
Defending his WBC title down at 140lbs, Garcia unanimously outpointed Matthysse in 2013 after scoring an 11th-round knockdown in what was a largely competitive contest.
