Does Danny Garcia Deserve to Have His Resume Criticized?

It’s really not that hard.

Rule No. 1: Don’t get labeled a cherry picker.

Boxing has more than its share of slights, snarky comments (sometimes informed) that are used to denigrate or diminish a fighter, but few carry the potent weight and shame of being labeled a cherry picker.

You know, carefully managing your career, fighting guys that look good but don't present the most risk.

Calculating.

A certain retired pound-for-pound king heard that a lot (sometimes fair, sometimes not), and one of the men who will fight Saturday night for a piece of hardware he vacated has been smeared with the same brush.

Danny Garcia faces Robert Guerrero at the Staples Center this weekend for the vacant WBC Welterweight Championship, but despite some impressive in-ring exploits, the undefeated Puerto Rican star has received the label that is hard to shed in many circles.

He addressed some of the criticism of this fight and others during an open-media workout at his gym in Philadelphia last week, per the Sweet Science:

“I’m just focused on Robert Guerrero because at the end of the day, that’s the task in front of me. None of the stuff in the future can happen if I don’t get the job done. I feel like I’ve faced some real good fighters. We just want to keep winning fights and getting bigger fights.”

So, fair or foul on calling Garcia, a former unified 140-pound champion, a cherry picker?

Can we punt on this question?

The case just isn’t simple.

Garcia’s detractors hang their hats largely on one name: Rod Salka.

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Garcia nearly decapitated Salka in the second round at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, in an August 2014 fight that was such a gross mismatch that the sanctioning organizations (hardly paragons of virtue) refused to sanction it as a title match.

You know how often that happens?

Not very.

Yes, that fight was a sham. It was dangerous, borderline negligence (slight hyperbole) and made both Garcia and the sport look foolish. Criticize him and the promoters all you wish for that one. There’s no defense for a unified champ fighting an unranked fighter from weight divisions below.

Garcia’s fans and defenders would counter all your justifiable Salka criticisms by pointing out that the Philadelphian has fought (and beaten) current or former world champions in 10 of his last 11 bouts.

It's a valid line of argument, but one that strengthens both cases.

That long line includes Nate Campbell, Erik Morales (twice, with no real need for the second fight), Zab Judah and Paulie Malignaggi, all of whom were clearly looking their best days in the rear-view.

Quality wins, yes, but without reservations?

No.

Guerrero seems to fit into that box as well, though we’ll find out Saturday night for sure.

The former multi-time world champion looks like a spent force after dropping a wide decision to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and then sandwiching tough wins over Yoshihiro Kamegai and Aaron Martinez (the latter should’ve been a loss) around a beatdown defeat to Keith Thurman.

Garcia—or "DSG," as he fashions himself—can hang his hat on a triad of impressive wins that can’t be disputed, qualified or denigrated by anyone but the haterest (not a word) of haters.

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He blasted Amir Khan in 2012 to unify the junior welterweight division. That win added the WBA to his WBC belt and made him a fighter to watch. Not bad for a kid who entered as a lightly regarded prospect expected to be a steppingstone for Khan on his path to boxing glory.

A year later, he smartly outboxed fearsome Argentine punching machine Lucas Matthysse (scoring a knockdown of his own) to keep his belts in a fight many expected he’d lose and most likely in brutal fashion.

A stumble in a tricky homecoming fight in Puerto Rico against Mauricio Herrera (a close decision that one could label homecooking) and the Salka mess led to a showdown with Lamont Peterson.

Garcia and Peterson were the two best 140-pound fighters in the world at the time (even though they fought at a catchweight), and Swift emerged with another close verdict.

You could argue for either man on that night (I scored the bout for Peterson at ringside), but it was one of those fights that was kind of lackluster and prone to producing an outcome that leaves both men with the ability to feel they got jobbed.

Khan, Matthysse and Peterson are serious resume-building wins. All were high-level fighters, and Garcia entered as the underdog in two of those contests.

Point for Danny.

Malignaggi and Guerrero aren’t exactly cherry picking, but they’re calculated risks. Names that are still names but don’t carry the same risk they once did—call that what you will.

Point against Danny.

But does that make him a cherry picker? After winning two world titles, unifying a division and hoping to capture a belt in a second Saturday night?

Again, we punt.

You decide for yourselves.