Waiting for two years for this? That is the question hogging the minds of many fans as they peruse through one of the cards on the September 14 Canelo Alvarez–Edgar Berlanga showdown. It features Ersilandy Lara and Danny Garcia. Wait, what? Danny Garcia? Yes, just when the boxing world had almost forgotten about him, the former unified light welterweight champion will stage a not-so-‘swift’ comeback after a two-year recess. He is claiming a stake at the WBA belt that the Cuban-American Lara currently holds as a middleweight champion.

During the last four years, ‘Swift’ Garcia has had only three fights spread in between two breaks. He left the ring after the third career loss to Errol Spence Jr. in 2020. He faced Jose Benavidez Jr. eighteen months later. A second break followed thereafter. Given his debut at 160 pounds and then going against 41-year-old Lara, the match-up seems to have left many bewildered.

The ‘Swift’ bid for the WBA title: Danny Garcia and ‘The American Dream’

TalkSPORT’s Michael Benson shared the update. His tweet read, “ANNOUNCED: Erislandy Lara will defend his WBA middleweight world title vs. Danny Garcia on the Canelo Alvarez vs. Edgar Berlanga undercard, Sept 14th, in Las Vegas.”

For Erislandy Lara, it would be the third title defense. He defeated Michael Zerafa at the March 30 PBC-Amazon Prime inaugural show, headlined by the Tim Tszyu–Sebastian Fundora fight. He became a champion for the second time, winning the vacant middleweight belt against Thomas LaManna on May 1, 2021.

To Garcia, who turned 36 in April, given his past record, many fans might feel that it could be his last attempt at a world championship. Despite having some high-profile fights during the last decade, unfortunately, the Philadelphian has not been successful enough to make it to the top echelons.

‘Split Decision’ on the Co-Main

Needless to say, the matchup left many users surprised. But there were a few who also felt that it was time ‘Swift’ should make a comeback. Let’s check what a few of the followers had to say.

To this fan, the line-up appears to be a decent one that should do justice by delivering a thrilling contest.

Given the predictability surrounding the Canelo Alvarez-Edgar Berlanga bout, the next fan felt that perhaps the Garcia-Lara matchup makes it rather more intriguing.

But for the next follower, the Garcia-Lara fight perhaps lacks not only in terms of skills but also from an excitement or competitive standpoint.

The fight at 160 pounds left this fan flummoxed. Even at the light middleweight, Danny Garcia seems to have fought only once—the 2022 fight against Jose Benavidez Jr.

Then check out what this fan said. Taking a dig at Edgar Berlanga, they quipped that given Garcia enjoying a greater fanbase among fellow Puerto Ricans, there are chances that his presence in the card may end up attracting more fans to the event.

Thus, there are a myriad of reactions to the announcement. A few months ago, in the lead-up to the Lara-Zerafa fight, speaking with Brian Custer about his comeback, Danny Garcia had laid out what he planned to do. “I wanted to fight Lara, you know, so that’s that’s who I thought I was going to fight. Um, that’s who I was waiting for… hopefully tonight, if he gets the victory or he doesn’t get the victory, I would like to fight the winner out of that fight cuz I want to be a three-division world champion.”

It might be too early to speculate whether it is Danny Garcia’s swan song. But whatever the decision he takes, his dream of fighting Lara has come true. Now only the winning part is left. Aside from the Garcia-Lara match, as of now, there’s little information available on other fights of Canelo Alvarez’s title defense against Edgar Berlanga.

What is your take on the reactions? Do you think Danny Garcia versus Erislandy Lara is going to be a great fight?