Danny Garcia defends father/trainer Angel: Who you start with is who you finish with

Danny Garcia plans on sticking with his father for the rest of his career.

Garcia (36-3, 21 KOs), a former two-division titleholder from Philadelphia, is preparing for his junior middleweight debut against Jose Benavidez Jr., which takes place Saturday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Garcia, who has won world titles at 140 and 147-pounds, is attempting to become a three-division titlist. Although critics for years have called for him to make a trainer change, the 34-year-old is refusing to turn his back on his father, Angel Garcia, who has caused issues in the past for making controversial comments. But since leaving the junior welterweight division, Garcia has failed to shine against the sport's best, including Keith Thurman (2017), Shawn Porter (2018), and his most recent bout against unbeaten unified welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr., who dominated him en route to a one-sided unanimous decision in December 2020. The fight was also Spence's first in over 15 months after a car crash left him with serious injuries.

“Everyone’s always gonna say what they want to say, you know?” Garcia said on The Last Stand Podcast. “But when we were winning all the world titles, [and my father was receiving] Trainer of Year [awards], and everything.”

Garcia believes changing trainers following losses isn't always the best solution. For instance, Deontay Wilder firing Mark Breland for Malik Scott following a seventh-round TKO to Tyson Fury in their highly-anticipated rematch in February 2020. The two squared off again in November 2021 following an extended layoff caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although Wilder did perform better in the trilogy, Fury still scored an 11th-round knockout to retain the WBC heavyweight title.

“As soon as you lose a fight people are like ‘Ah, you need a new trainer,’” Garcia said. “It’s just like Canelo. He lost his last fight – he has two losses, he has two draws – what’s the next thing they’re gonna say about him? He needs a new trainer too?”

Garcia added that even if there is a better trainer for him out there, nothing can replace the trust and chemistry that he has with his father.

“I just feel like boxing is really not about who’s the best,” Garcia said. “It’s about who you got the most chemistry with. It’s who you can build, who you can build. Boxing’s really about trust. If there’s no chemistry it’s not gonna work.

“Even if you do get a better trainer, if the chemistry isn’t there then you probably will have a worse result. I just feel like who you start with is who you finish with and you just build and learn together. In boxing you never stop learning.”