Errol Spence Jr. rematch is what Mikey Garcia wants

By Boxing News - 04/28/2020 - Comments

By Aragon Garcia: A rematch with Errol Spence Jr. is the ultimate goal for Mikey Garcia. The talented former four-division world champion Garcia (40-1, 30 KOs) wants to earn the second clash against the unbeaten IBF/WBC welterweight champion Spence Jr. (26-0, 21 KOs) by winning several fights, including a world title.

Garcia doesn’t want the rematch to be given to him on a silver platter by Spence. He wants to earn it by beating several of the big four at welterweight:

  • Manny Pacquiao
  • Keith Thurman
  • Shawn Porter
  • Danny Garcia

If Garcia can beat several of those fighters, he’ll earn the rematch with Spence, and he can prove his many critics wrong.

WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford would make that list a well, but he’s with Top Rank Boxing and fights on a different network platform.

Garcia lost to Spence by a conclusive 12 round unanimous decision in March of 2019 in Arlington, Texas. The scores were 120-107, 120-108, and 120-108. Garcia, 32, never got untracked with his offense because of Spence keeping his distance, and using his size and reach effectively.

Since Garcia’s loss, he’s worked hard and gotten better acclimatized to the 147-pound division. In Garcia’s last fight, he defeated former WBO welterweight champion Jessie Vargas by a 12 round unanimous decision on February 29 in Frisco, Texas. Garcia hurt Vargas on several occasions in the fight in pounding out an easy decision win.

Image: Errol Spence Jr. rematch is what Mikey Garcia wants

Beating Vargas proved Garcia can be player at 147

“It was a good fight. He can in to win,” said Mikey Garcia to Premier Boxing Champions on his recent win over Jessie Vargas. “He was complicating things with his height and reach, as we expected. Once he started getting the timing and the rhythm of things, I felt more comfortable, and I was able to take control of the pace and fight.

“I hurt him, but he got back up, and he fought,” said Garcia about Vargas. “He was always dangerous. Something I can say I learned was I’m obviously risking a lot more in the welterweight division. There are bigger guys that can always be dangerous.

“I can definitely feel the size difference in the ring, but we got the win,” Garcia said. “And I felt that I did what I needed to do for me to be a player in the welterweight limit, and show that I can win. That’s what I did.

“I don’t want to risk a loss trying to get a knockout. So we played it safe. I think it was a good call, and I feel like I have the ability to do so, even at welterweight,” said Mikey.

Garcia let Vargas jump out ahead to a big early lead in controlling the first four rounds of the contest. In the fifth, Garcia hurt Vargas and dropped him on the canvas.

The mistake Garcia made was he let Vargas survive by getting out of the round instead of going for the finisher. Garcia was too patient, and he let Vargas off the hook by not shooting for the knockout.

This could have been costly for Garcia, given that Vargas came on strong in the last three rounds of the fight to make it closer.

Image: Errol Spence Jr. rematch is what Mikey Garcia wants

Garcia wants to win a fifth division world title

“I do want to secure a title at 147 with a fifth division world title,” said Garcia. “It would be amazing for my career and my legacy. I think that’s what’s continuing to push me at 147. I really want to get that fifth world title, and I think I have what it takes to do so.

“I’ve got to earn my shot and get in line to make something happen,” said Mikey. “Once people are able to see me at 147, fighting another world title fight, I think I’ll take advantage and show that there’s a lo more to Mikey Garcia than what they’ve seen in the past,” said Garcia.

The best for Garcia to win his fifth division world title in the short term is for him to acquire a title shot against WBA Super World welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao.

Garcia is currently ranked #3 with the World Boxing Association, behind #1 WBA Yordenis Ugas and #2 Danny Garcia. However, Mikey, in all probability, won’t need to take the #1 spot with the WBA for him to get a crack Pacquiao’s WBA title.

Garcia’s popularity will enable him to get the title shot against Pacquiao. From there, it’s up to Garcia to prove that he can beat the 41-year-old Pacquiao. It won’t be easy. As we saw in Pacquiao’s win over Keith Thurman last July, he’s still fighting at roughly full capacity.

Getting fights at 140 would be complicated

“I do feel that 140 would be a better natural fit, but it’s one of those things were the different champions are held by a different entity, and it’s going to be a lot more complicated to secure a world title fight,” said Garcia. “Two of the belts are held by [Jose] Ramirez, a stable-mate, who is also a good friend of mine.

“We’re obviously not going to be fighting each other. It just complicates things at 140. So if there’s no title fights available at 140, what am I going to do there? I’d rather secure and reach for a title at 147. It’s actually changed,” said Mikey when asked if he still has the same love for boxing that he once had.

“When I first started boxing, I didn’t have that love and that fire. It was something to do, and I was good at it, I was natural and it was part of the family business. So here I am. But after I had my layoff and went through my troubles coming back, it kind of ignited that fire and that love.

“It was taken away for a few years, but not that I have it back, there’s a lot more I want to accomplish,” said Garcia.

Moving down to 140 could prove to be a waste of time for Garcia, considering that Top Rank has most of the main guys in that weight class. In addition, Garcia if friends with WBC/WBO 140-pound champion Jose Ramirez, and he doesn’t want to fight him. That leaves Regis Prograis, Josh Taylor, Teofimo Lopez, and Ivan Baranchyk or Garcia.

Mikey wants to fight a lot more years

“There’s so much more in the world that I can be one of the best in this generation and this era,” said Garcia. “In order to do so, I need to challenge myself, and I’ve got to fight the world champions that are there. I need to take on the biggest fights that people want to see me in, and that’s the funny part.

“It’s changed. Normally, a lot of times for the fighters, it’s the other way around,” said Garcia. “As they get older, they lose that fire and that passion. But for me, it’s backward. I have that passion. I’m not done. I’m excited. There’s so much more I want to accomplish.

“I wanted to fight three times this year. That’s not going to happen with the current issues we’re going through, but I want to fight a lot more. I’m not done. I got many more years to go, and that’s what keeps me going because I know that I’ve got so much more to accomplish. And I believe I will accomplish everything before I retire,” said Garcia.

If Garcia can stay around long enough to beat all the top PBC fighters, then he can call it a day afterward. Maybe take on Crawford at the very end would be a good cap for Garcia’s career after he’s cleaned out PBC’s top welterweights.

Just beating Spence will be enough for Garcia to cement his position in Boxing’s Hall of Fame. We still need to see if Spence is the same fighter he once was after his car crash last October in Dallas, Texas.

Image: Errol Spence Jr. rematch is what Mikey Garcia wants

Errol used his size effectively

“It was a great fight and great performance by him,” said Garcia on his loss to Errol Spence Jr. in 2019. “He fought the perfect fight, and he really knew how to box out of a southpaw stance. He kept the right distance. I felt like I was going to be able to get to the inside or maybe use lateral movement, but I just wasn’t able to.

“He was always able to be a step ahead. He was a step quicker, a step better in every way,” Garcia continued about Spence. I knew he was going to be a tough fighter. He does everything so well. I kept saying, ‘He reminds me a lot about me.’

“There’s nothing flashy, and nothing special that stands out in Errol Spence. But everything he does, he does it very well and very effective. He’s similar to how I fight, but he obviously was a lot better. He was a bigger guy, longer reach, the height, and he knew how to use it,” said Mikey in talking about Errol’s size.

The size of the 5’9″ Spence gave Garcia massive problems. Spence is a de facto junior middleweight, who uses his iron-willed discipline to strip weight off to make the 147-pound limit. Garcia has nothing to be ashamed about in losing to a junior middleweight-sized fighter like Spence.

In the rematch with Spence, Garcia needs to stay on the outside, and use fast darting attacks to land his shots. It’s not going to work for Garcia to try and get inside on Spence because he’ll back away each time to avoid his pressure.

Garcia plans on earning a rematch with Spence

“He didn’t give it up. Whenever I tried to get on the inside, and whenever I tried to walk forward, he would walk back and keep the distance,” said Garcia. “And when I would try and box on the outside, he would walk forward just enough to be at a distance where he would be able to take me with and land combinations.

“He was able to always dictate that distance. So he was able to fight a perfect fight. What else can I learn? That’s boxing. You’ve got to take what you’ve learned from that loss and keep moving forward.

“I think I want to earn my shot. I need to win a few more fights and get a big fight and win a world title fight, and that’ll secure a rematch opportunity,” said Garcia on wanting to fight Spence in a rematch.

Garcia can earn the rematch with Spence the hard way by beating several of the top welterweights in the division. A good move for Garcia would be to have his management line up a fight against Thurman and beat him.

A victory over Thurman could prove to be enough for Garcia to get either a rematch with Spence or a title fight against Pacquiao. Thurman is still excellent, and it won’t be easy for Garcia to defeat him. But if he does, it’ll open doors for Garcia to face Pacquiao or Spence after that.

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