A little over a decade ago, Danny Garcia fought the toughest and greatest of his fights. Not because the opponent was tough, but because no one gave him a chance despite him holding the gold. He went toe-to-toe with Lucas Matthysse and secured a memorable decision win. However, it took him 3 months to heal from the challenger’s beating.

When Garcia, now 36, met Matthysse, now 41, back in 2013, the latter took the early rounds and dominated the early phase of the fight. The table turned when the Argentine boxer suffered an eye injury, and the champion took advantage of it. But that was not all. In the 11th round, the American fighter found his mouthguard knocked out. But he mustered his spirit and willpower to produce a four-punch combination, dropping Matthysse and edging him out on the judges’ scorecard. While the fans remember the fight as one of the most action-packed, back-and-forth affairs, Garcia recalls it as the fight when he almost died.

‘Swift’ appeared in an interview with All Fight Smoke and, when asked about his toughest fight, cited the fight with Matthysse. He admitted he was p*ssing blood and had a ruptured eardrum because of Matthysse’s heavy blows to his kidney and temple. He said, “I’ll probably say my hardest fight was the Matthysse fight physically. That boy was punching.”

“I p*ssed blood and broke my eardrum in that fight. I guess he hit me on my back or something. That’s the first fight I ever p*ssed blood—I’m like, ‘Am I dying?'” Garcia declared. It took him 3 months to recover and feel healthy again. He also admitted he was walking crookedly because his equilibrium was off from the brutal ear punches. The former two-division champion continued, “I went to p*ss in the cup, and it’s red… I was a little messed up after that fight.”

Danny Garcia finds himself in a similar situation today when he faces Erislandy Lara on September 14 on the Canelo Alvarez vs. Edgar Berlanga bill. Will the Philadelphia native take inspiration from his fight with Matthysse and do it again?

Same situation, same predicament for Danny Garcia after 11 years

Angel Garcia disclosed the fight plan for the Lara fight, where the ultimate prize is the middleweight gold. He told BoxingScene, “We’re just going to go out there and sit, and when he throws that left hand, we have a chance.” Even he couldn’t fail to make parallels with the Lara fight and the Matthysse fight.

The boxer-turned-coach continued, “Listen, 11 years ago, he was in the same predicament with Matthysse. Danny was the champion, but everybody doubted him. The odds were crazy. And Danny went out there 11 years ago, at the same time, Sept. 14, and got the job done.” It remains to be seen whether Garcia will pull off another inspiring performance and give fans another fight to remember when everyone doubted him, yet he came on top despite the odds.

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