Ranking the Best Opponents for Danny Garcia's Next Fight

It wasn't easy, but the reward was pretty.

And as Danny Garcia tossed his new WBC welterweight title belt over his shoulder Saturday—and presented a mini version to his young daughter—he didn't seem to mind the battering it took to get it.

The 27-year-old stayed unbeaten as a pro and became a kingpin in his second weight class with a competitive, but clear-cut, unanimous decision over Robert Guerrero at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

All three judges scored it 116-112 for Garcia. Bleacher Report agreed, giving him eight of 12 rounds.

"I knew Robert Guerrero was a warrior. But I felt like I won the fight clearly, and the judges thought so, too," Garcia told Fox's Mark Kriegel in a post-fight interview. "Tonight I showed I could stay toe to toe with a veteran. I want to fight the best. I'll fight everybody."

Given his new status as a green-belted champion in another division, significant options should abound for him going forward. With that in mind, we put together a list of five prospective foes who could make sense for him the next time he steps in the ring.

Click through to see who we came up with and feel free to drop in some ideas of your own in the comments section.

5. Floyd Mayweather Jr.

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At some point, it'll be OK to forecast significant fights in the welterweight division that don't mention Floyd Mayweather Jr. 

But not yet.

The former five-division world champion got the boxing universe buzzing once again with his appearance Saturday night at the Staples Center, arriving during the early rounds of the Garcia-Guerrero main event and telling Fox's Brian Kenny that he's not thinking about fighting "as of right now."

He and Garcia were on a pseudo-collision course when they fought and won together on the Mayweather-Canelo Alvarez card in Las Vegas in 2013, but Money chose two matches with Marcos Maidana in 2014 and took his 2015 victory lap with Manny Pacquiao and Andre Berto.

Now that the 27-year-old Philadelphian has the WBC belt that Mayweather had possessed for two reigns, though, perhaps the fires will start burning again.

And even if not, it at least provides a temporary reason to keep his name in the mix.

4. Kell Brook

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Then again, the best welterweight in the world not named Mayweather might just be Kell Brook.

So it's hardly a surprise that the British-based IBF champion's name has been on Garcia's lips.

The Philadelphian suggested prior to an Aug. 1 defeat of Paulie Malignaggi that Brook's hardware is a significant draw for him, though getting him to take the plunge and fly across the Atlantic to get it done might be a trial.

Brook has fought twice in the United States, most recently for his title win over Shawn Porter in California in 2014. His two subsequent defenses, however, have both been on home turf, and it'll be a key negotiating point to see which of the two sides is more willing to leave its comfort zone.

Garcia has fought outside the U.S. twice, once in Mexico in 2010 and once in Puerto Rico—where he traces his family roots—in 2014.

“He has got the IBF world title. Those are the matchups that I’m looking forward to. I definitely want to win a world title,” Garcia told ThaBoxingVoice via YouTube. “I would definitely visit (the U.K.), I don’t think I’d fight (there) though. I heard the taxes are crazy.”

3. Shawn Porter

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If you watched Saturday night's broadcast from Los Angeles, it was easy to forget about Shawn Porter.

The snappily dressed Ohio native dropped in briefly for an away-from-ringside interview and had his thunder almost entirely stolen by the man he'll meet in March—Keith Thurman—because Thurman had drawn Fox color analyst duties for Premier Boxing Champions.

Lest anyone forget, Porter beat Garcia's previous victim—Paulie Malignaggi—into oblivion 16 months earlier in Washington, D.C., but Kell Brook derailed his run one fight later.

He's since returned for a pair of victories, including a catchweight defeat of Cincinnati resident Adrien Broner in June that was billed as the "Battle of Ohio."

Subsequently, Porter told ThaBoxingVoice.com that he'd be happy to meet Garcia in either his adopted hometown of Las Vegas or in Garcia's recent stomping grounds, the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

And, upon being told that Garcia considered him a tailor-made opponent, Porter responded confidently.

"He's the hot name coming from 140. It makes sense that Danny Garcia face 'Showtime' Shawn Porter real soon," Porter said. "He's right there for the picking. If he thinks I'm tailor-made for him, come bring it. I got a whole bunch of tailor-made suits, I know how to fit into those. I fit in just fine."

2. Amir Khan

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Precisely 1,289 nights ago in Las Vegas, Amir Khan couldn't last four rounds with Garcia.

But that was 2012.

And now that it's 2016 and Garcia is a welterweight champion, his suggestions that a second go-round with the high-profile British slugger wouldn't be such a bad thing and would carry a bit more weight.

"It's a big fight," Garcia told ThaBoxingVoice.com. "He's a star in boxing. I'm a big star in boxing now. If it happens, it happens, I'm down. Why not? When it comes to names, Khan's probably one of the biggest names, bigger than (Shawn Porter and Keith Thurman)."

The Guerrero win was Garcia's eighth straight since the Khan victory, which back then unified his WBC belt at 140 pounds with Khan's WBA strap. Khan fought just once more as a junior welterweight after the loss, and he has since gone 4-0 as a full-fledged welterweight—including wide scorecard defeats of former 147-pound title claimants Devon Alexander and Luis Collazo.

Not surprisingly, he fancies the idea of another meeting, too.

"I'd love the rematch against Garcia because I know deep down I'm a better fighter than him," Khan told Press Association Sport (via the Mirror). "I made a mistake in that fight and I paid for that mistake. But I know I can beat him. I know I'm a better fighter."

1. Keith Thurman

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Keith Thurman is never shy with a microphone in his face.

And as he proved Saturday night, he's even less reticent to speak when the mic is in his hand.

The unbeaten Florida welterweight took full advantage of his color analyst position on Fox's broadcast of Garcia's fight, jumping between discussing the action in front of him and the way the action might look if he were in the ring with the new WBC champion instead.

"Would I like to fight him? I would love to fight him. That’s a great fight," he told Fox colleague Gus Johnson. "That green belt looks pretty good. I would like to see it around my waist later this year."

Now that the two are dueling alphabet champions at 147 pounds, it makes clear sense. But Saturday night was hardly the first time the two have appeared on each other's radar.

A Garcia fight would match two of the division's young lions—both are 27—and position the winner to stake a full-fledged claim to assuming the throne Floyd Mayweather Jr. left vacant after downing Andre Berto in September. Thurman has significant work to do against Shawn Porter in March, but if he wins, mark a match between him and Garcia down as the first step to clearing up the welterweight muddle. 

Conveniently, his would-be foe lobbed a verbal grenade via ThaBoxingVoice.com last year.

"Keith Thurman is a good fighter at 147," Garcia said, "but he still hasn't beat nobody to be elite, to sell out stadiums."