Joey’s Corner: Garcia’s reprieve and Thurman’s gamble as Father Time watches closely

A legend ends his career with a knockout victory, then hints that he has not ended it at all. Danny Garcia’s Brooklyn farewell was definitely his last fight, until it wasn’t. Just another weekend inside the boxing ring.

Where next for Hall of Fame-bound Danny Garcia? And which old foe of his can take inspiration from his efforts? Read on and step into the sweat-flecked solitude of Joey’s Corner.

“Either way, this is going to be historic. Unless Garcia fights again, of course. But a boxer wouldn’t lie about retirement, would they?”

I wrote the above passage in my preview ahead of Danny Garcia’s advertised farewell fight against Daniel Gonzalez on Saturday night. It was said with tongue planted firmly in cheek. After all, a boxer who honours their first retirement is hard to find in this sport. But few go about the deception as brazenly as Garcia, whose turnaround was as ‘Swift’ as his nickname.

The supposedly-retiring two-weight world champion Garcia scored a peach of a one-punch knockout over Gonzalez. A finish so storybook that ‘Swift’ simply could not leave it there. Boxers are built to resist fairytales when it comes to the ending their careers. The 37-year-old had the following to say in his post-fight interview.

"At the end of the day, I'm healthy. I've got a lovely family… I don't know. It's a high chance [that I fight again]”

Garcia had not won a fight for three years coming in. He had lost his last four world title fights, a fallow period dating back to 2017. The Gonzalez bout was a chance to go out with a smile in his favourite building, the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The home of 10 of Garcia’s fights. But the chance was spurned. It feels increasingly likely that the 37-year-old will seek to continue a career that ended as a genuine world-level concern after his 2020 loss to Errol Spence Jr.

Spence was the last fighter in the four-loss world title chain for Garcia. Keith Thurman was the first, outpointing ‘Swift’ to snatch his WBC belt back in 2017. Thurman now finds himself in a similar boat to that which Garcia has rowed in for a few years now.

‘One Time’ is 36 years old, a year younger than retired-or-is-he? Garcia. Thurman is preparing for a world title shot that feels definitive, like Danny’s final belt bow against WBA middleweight king Erlislandy Lara.

Thurman’s quarry is WBC super welterweight champion and physical freak Sebastian Fundora. The fight had been set for this coming weekend but, due to an injury to the champion, is now being targeted for January. It will likely be part of Manny Pacquiao’s undercard for his expected 2026 date with one of the welterweight champions, possibly WBA boss Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero.

Thurman and Garcia share many parallels. Each man peaked in the previous decade, with the 2010s housing the entire world title lineage of both fighters. Like Garcia, Thurman’s last significant win came in 2022. ‘One Time’ outpointed Mario Barrios, the current WBC welterweight champion, in February of that year. 

Thurman has got between the ropes just once since, knocking out no-hoper Brock Jarvis this past March. Somehow, that victory has proved to be enough for a crack at Fundora, the 6’5½ ‘Towering Inferno’ who recently burnt Tim Tszyu’s career to a crisp. 

Can Thurman turn back the clock at a new weight at two minutes to midnight in his illustrious career? You can get 4/1 on the man many thought would succeed Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather as the welterweight to beat back in 2019.

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