I think it's very possible. Thurman was in there buzzing Garcia with speed and power. And Oscar had both more handspeed and power than Thurman.
I like Danny Swift Garcia, he is a good fighter, but Swift he is not, compared to Oscar De La Hoya. Oscar the boxer is a quick fighter with good combination punching and good lateral movement. Danny can hit but I do not see him winning this bout, Oscar takes it by unanimous 12 round decision, Danny is tough, so I do see him going the distance.
Before you guys carry of myth of DelaHoya too far take a look at the Miguel Angel Gonzalez fight which actually took place at 140lbs. Oscar did well early and was fading badly the 2nd half of the bout. Gonzales was one of the slowest boxers you could find on the elite level. I think Oscar could nip it 7-5 in a 12 rounder. Danny had some ability I dont think he is getting stopped. He could come on late and make it close. Having speed and power is great and its flashy but stamina is pretty vital as well on the Championship level.
I'm not sure about Garcia being a near-great at 140. Those charges you place at Oscar's feet seem just as applicable to Danny. He looked poor against Herrera and Peterson, losing both fights on my (and a lot of other people's) card, and as for beating names who were small and past their best, what about him feasting on the remains of Morales? Even Erik gave him a decent argument first time out. Judah was pretty long in the tooth, too. Two excellent wins against Khan and Matthysse, but mixed in with plenty of unconvincing moments. I don't see him beating De la Hoya. Just a different class of fighter to him.
Danny Garcia and great dont belong in the same sentence. Last time I checked, Oscar wasnt the one who got outboxed by Herrera and Peterson.
Yeah, congrats to Danny for doing the same thing Bredis Prescott did. What an accomplishment! Khan would be on a ventilator when young Oscar was through with him.
The fact that he fought Peterson a couple of pounds north of 140 doesn't really change or challenge much of what I said about Garcia, though. At that point both he and Peterson still held titles at 140 and to this day I think most would accept that they each looked their best and had most of their success in (or around) that weight. He doesn't get a pass because of the catchweight, and there's no reason to suggest he'd have suddenly performed much better against Peterson if he'd come in inside the 140 limit. If you want to talk about achievements purely as a Light-Welter, then yeah, on paper he's ahead of De la Hoya, but we're talking about a fight between the pair here, not who rates higher in the division's history. On paper, Hatton is ahead of guys like Whitaker, Mosley, Duran etc. at 140 too. Wouldn't prevent him losing every round to Whitaker or having ten bells brutally knocked out of him by Mosley or Duran, though. In a head-to-head sense, I'm struggling to see where Garcia has an edge or how he wins.
