By Dan Ambrose: Brian McIntyre, the trainer for WBC/WBO light welterweight champion Terence Crawford (30-0, 21 KOs), says they’re ready for unbeaten Mikey Garcia (36-0, 30 KOs) whenever he decides to move up to the 140lb division. That could be very soon, because Mikey says he wants to unify all the titles in the 135lb division first before moving up in weight.
Last Saturday night, Garcia defeated WBC World lightweight champion Dejan Zlaticanin (22-1, 15 KOs) by a 3rd round knockout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Garcia, 29, knocked Zlaticanin unconscious with a right hand to the head in the 3rd.
Mikey said afterwards that he wants to unify the division. He still needs to fight the winner of the Anthony Crolla vs. Jorge Linares fight for the WBA title, and then IBF champion Robert Easter Jr. and WBO champion Terry Flanagan. The 5’11” Easter Jr. would be the biggest obstacle preventing Mikey from unifying the lightweight division.
The 5’7” Garcia is accustomed to being the taller fighters during his career. He started out at featherweight and has moved up steadily ever since then. But against Easter Jr, Garcia would be giving away four inches in height and eight inches in reach. That would be quite significant.
Mikey couldn’t just hold out his left arm to keep Easter Jr. from getting close enough to hit him the way he did against Zlaticanin and Orlando Salido. Easter Jr. would always be in range to hit Mikey with one of his big power shots, and he would be out of range of Mikey’s jab, which was his primary weapon against Zlaticanin last Saturday night.
“We welcome Mikey’s challenge, if he comes up to 140 pounds,” said Crawford’s trainer McIntyre to RingTV.com. “We will do him like we did him in the amateurs.” Terence beat the [expletive] out of him.”
If Mikey does move up in weight, it might not be for at least another two years. Getting fights against the Linares-Crolla winner, Easter Jr. and Flanagan will take a lot of time. I don’t know that the promoters for those fighters are going to agree to a unification fight against Mikey.
You have to remember that they have a good thing going with their champions making money defending those titles. Mikey would be better off moving up in weight if he can’t get the other champions at lightweight to fight him. The division isn’t a popular one with the casual boxing fans. Mikey should forget about the lightweight division and move up to 140, where the money is better and his chances of big fights increase.
If Mikey moves up to 140, he’s got the potential for big fights against Adrien Broner, Ricky Burns and Crawford. If Mikey moves up yet again to 147, then that’s where the big money comes in. He can fight the likes of Danny Garcia, Errol Spence, Manny Pacquiao, Amir Khan, Kell Brook and Keith Thurman.
I’m not sure how much money Mikey can make by fighting Crawford. I don’t think that’s a big money fight. Crawford hasn’t become a big star in the sport despite him being unbeaten. He’s a good fighter when it comes to the hardcore boxing fans, but he’s not a big star and he may never be one. Mikey should think hard before he takes a fight against Crawford, because he might not gain much from the fight.