By Tim Royner: This Wednesday, Matchroom Boxing USA will be announcing the next fight for Mikey Garcia for his February 29 bout. The opponent for former four division world champion Garcia (39-1, 30 KOs) will be present along with Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn at a news conference in Los Angeles, California.
Hearn signed Mikey to a one-fight deal plus an option. His February 29 fight will be a tough but winnable one for him, but the second fight could be Manny Pacquiao. That’s where the big money will roll in for Matchroom, and Mikey if they can get Manny to agree to it.
Mikey hasn’t done anything to deserve a fight against Pacquiao at 147, other than losing to IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. by a 12 round decision. If Mikey looks bad in his February 29th fight, he could wreck his chances of getting the Pacquiao fight.
Jessie Vargas expected to be announced as Mikey’s next opponent
There’s no real secret about the name of Mikey’s opponent. Unless Hearn plans on pulling a rabbit out of his hat, it’s going to be Jessie Vargas, a fighter that Matchroom signed earlier this year. Vargas, 30, has only two defeats on his resume during his 11-year professional career to Manny Pacquiao and Tim Bradley. Vargas hurt his career by sitting out of the ring for a 13 months following his loss to Pacquiao.
It was a nice payday Vargas got for the Pacquiao fight, but it was clearly a mistake for Jessie to stay inactive for a year after that. The momentum that Vargas’ career has going into the Pacquiao fight was disrupted by his inactivity, and made worse by his performances against Adrien Broner and Thomas Dulorme. The fact that Vargas couldn’t beat Dulorme and Broner showed his limits aas a welterweight, which is why it seems odd that Matchroom chose to sign him. Vargas’ 15 minutes of fame was losing to Tim Bradley and Pacquiao. That’s pretty much the fights that Vargas is known for.
Vargas also has two recent draws against Adrien Broner and Thomas Dulorme. Since losing to Pacquiao in 2016, Vargas has wins over journeyman Alan Sanchez and 39-year-old super featherweight Humberto Soto.
He’s only had one fight under Hearn’s banner, and that was against 39-year-old super featherweight Soto last April.
Vargas didn’t look good in that fight in getting staggered by the much SMALLER, but arguably more talented Soto. However, as the fight wore on, Vargas used his monstrous size advantage to wear the out of shape Soto down before stopping him in the 7th. Soto didn’t look well trained for the fight.
Vargas wants catchweight for Mikey fight
If this is going to Vargas that Mikey faces, he’ll likely be facing him at a catchweight between 147 and 154. Vargas fights at junior middleweight, and it’s tough for him to get down to 147. He’s been fighting at 154 for a year now, but he still hasn’t faced a junior middleweight. There’s been talk in the past about Vargas being used as a B-side opponent for Kell Brook, but that fight never materialized.