By Sean Jones: Mikey Garcia (37-0, 30 KOs) reported that his weight was right at 170 pounds several weeks ago in training for his March 10 fight against IBF light welterweight champion Sergey Lipinets (13-0, 10 KOs) on Showtime Boxing.
If Garcia’s weight is at 170, then it would make sense for him to be saying that he wants to challenge IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. (23-0, 23 KOs) later this year. Spence is said to weigh in the low 170s when fully rehydrated. If Mikey is weighing in the low 170s as well, it won’t be as much of an issue for him to fight Spence.
“170,” said Garcia to ES News Reporting, when asked how much he’s weighing in a video earlier this month.
Mikey might not realize this but he’s now going to be called a weight bully by some boxing fans for him saying he weighs 170. If Mikey’s true weight is 170, it would mean that he has a big weight advantage over his opponents in the lightweight division at 135. He shouldn’t be fighting in that division. Middleweight champion Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin weighs between 170 and 173 when fully rehydrated for his middleweight contenders. We don’t know how much Saul Canelo Alvarez weighs, He no longer is weighed HBO before his fights, but he’s rumored to rehydrate to the 180s.
“I’m taking Lipinets now, then [Jorge] Linares and then at the end of the year, I take [Errol] Spence,” Mikey Garcia said to So Cal Boxing Report.
Mikey might as well move up to 147 to start campaigning at welterweight after his March 10 title challenge against IBF light welterweight champion Lipinets. If Mike’s walking around weight is in the 170s without him looking fat, there’s no point at all in him moving back down to 135 to face 33-year-old WBA lightweight champion Jorge Linares in a unification fight. Mikey wants to be a pay-per-view star in boxing. His best chances of accomplishing that goal are for him to fight at 147 than in staying 135 or 140. Both of those divisions are empty of big names. The boxing public doesn’t have a lot of interest for the lightweight and light welterweight divisions.
The fans care more about the 147, 160, 175 and heavyweight divisions in the U.S. That’s why it’s important for fighters like Mikey and Vasyl Lomachenko to move up in weight to at least the 147 lb. division. Lomachenko should move to 140, and then take on the likes of Manny Pacquiao. Mikey has the right idea of wanting to face Spence. As long as Mikey doesn’t get beaten too badly, he should increase his popularity.
