Danny ‘Swift’ Garcia vs. Keith ‘One-Time’ Thurman: Shots Fired

“@Yo! Yo Philly! If y’all wanna see me whip this guy’s ass make some noise!”

DSG, crowd hyping in the direction of Keith Thurman after stopping Sammy Vargas in the 7th round

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About thirty-five minutes before the WBC welterweight champion stated the above, he made his way to the ring knowing cheese stakes were as high as the cost of bread. For no matter how you slice it, the public’s demand for him to “cut the shit” has only resonated louder from the voice of WBA welterweight champion Keith “One-Time” Thurman, who just happened to be a ringside commentator this past Saturday night at Temple University in Philadelphia. The two will collide on March 4, 2017.

In front of a partisan crowd of die-hard supporters, ‘Swift’ very calmly put Vargas together and took him apart,before treating Thurman like a cross between a benchwarming 76er and a bootleg version of Drake with a ponytail.

Perhaps this had a lot to do with the presence of A.I., artificial intelligence from Meek Mill, or both. We don’t really know. But somehow beneath it all, was probably laughter coming from Al Haymon somewhere in the boxing galaxy for setting this up.

In July 2015, I attended a press conference at USF in Tampa just prior to Thurman’s drama-filled 8th round dissection of Luis Collazo, and was pulled aside by the champion to demonstrate his strategy against the grizzled vet.

“This is a good fight for me, because even though [Collazo] is a southpaw, his left hook is fired orthodox,” said Thurman. Then came the punchline. “But it’s not a ‘Daddy’s Boy’ left hook and its coming from a true welterweight.”

Oooh, shots fired. Swift doesn’t look so good weeks later against an aging, puffed-up super lightweight in Paulie Malignaggi.

Thurman watches as Garcia struggles with former victim Robert Guerrero to capture the WBC belt in January, while fully expecting to beat Shawn Porter in March to set up Garcia around now. But a dangerous car crash in February derailed their match-up until June, which resulted in an epic do-or-die saga on CBS primetime in Brooklyn that drew massive ratings. During the post fight press conference, I asked Thurman who he wanted next and why.

“I want Danny Garcia. Robert Guerrero, father/son combination. Got rid of him. Shawn Porter, father/son combination. Got rid of him,” snapped Thurman, before issuing a statement heard all over social media. “If you’re a ‘Daddy’s Boy’ come and see me, boy!”

That remark pissed off Garcia, who wasted no time coming after Thurman at ringside (and moments later in the ring) with an assortment of threats. So… What’d Swift say?

“I’m gonna take your belt… I’m gonna fuck you up… ,” mimicked Thurman. “He was pumped up on adrenaline and his dad in his hometown. I’m in chill mode. Trust me– I’m going to lay him out.”

Click, click.