By Dan Ambrose: Mikey Garcia has a lot to say about the upcoming Errol Spence Jr vs. Danny Garcia, Vasiliy Lomachenko vs. Teofimo Lopez, and Ryan Garcia vs. Luke Campbell fights this year.
The former four-division world champion Mikey (40-1, 30 KOs) isn’t counting out the underdogs in those contests.
More specifically, Mikey is giving Teofimo Lopez (15-0, 12 KOs) and Danny Garcia (36-2, 21 KOs) a decent shot at pulling off upsets in their respective matches against Lomachenko (14-1, 10 KOs) and Spence (26-0, 20 KOs).
As the pandemic continues, there’s nothing like the upcoming lightweight unification fight between WBA/WBC/WBO champion Lomachenko and IBF champ Teofimo on October 17. The two fighters signed their contracts on Monday, and the war is supposed to be announced today by Top Rank.
On a side note: The perception a lot of fans have regarding Mikey, 32, is he ducked Lomachenko after the Ukrainian fighter moved up to 135 in 2018 in hopes of facing him.
Rather than staying at lightweight to take on Lomachenko, Mikey moved up to 140 and then 147 to go after different fighters. Mikey recently beat Jessie Vargas last February on DAZN, and he got a big payday for that match.
It’s unclear why DAZN agreed to let that fight be shown on their network, as Vargas isn’t an elite welterweight, and it more of a cherry-pick type of conflict for Mikey. That fight was as bad Canelo Alvarez’s talk of wanting to fight Avni Yildirim.
Jose Ramirez’s pressure will overcome Josh Taylor
“I thought Ramirez did one hell of a job,” said Mikey Garcia to Fighthype on Jose Ramirez’s recent win over Viktor. “Postol is a very tricky fighter, very experienced.
So, I thought Ramirez did great. He fought very, very well. He put pressure enough at the right moments and at the right times.
“I think [Josh] Taylor will try and box and keep Jose at a distance,” said Mikey in analyzing the Ramirez vs. Josh Taylor fight. “That’s what Taylor is going to try to do, and that’ what he should do.
“But Jose’s pressure, he’s very strong. I think his talent and pressure will eventually overcome Taylor’s boxing,” Garcia said.
Mikey appears to have a warped view of the unification fight between WBC/WBO light welterweight champion Jose Ramirez (26-0, 17 KOs) and IBF/WBA champ Josh Taylor (16-0, 12 KOs).
First off, Taylor isn’t a boxer, and he’s not likely to try and fight on the outside. Taylor is a slugger, and he’s more at home on the inside.
If Mikey had watched Taylor’s matches against Regis Prograis and Ivan Baranchyk, he’d know that he’s an inside guy, who is a pure terror when in close.
As far as Mikey’s comments about Ramirez doing a “great job” against Viktor Postol (31-3, 12 KOs), that’s also a little hard to understand. Most boxing fans thought ‘The Iceman’ Postol deserved the win in their fight on August 29 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ramirez was given 12 round majority decision by the scores 115-113, 116-112, and 114-114. It wasn’t a conclusive win for Ramirez, and it left a lot of questions about his talent.
The 28-year-old Ramirez has got a good story behind his background in California, but as far as boxing goes, he’s not quite elite-level.
Ramirez’s win over Postol was his second controversial victory in the last two years. In 2019, Ramirez beat Jose Zepeda by a questionable conquest. What this tells you is, Ramirez isn’t that good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffXjXsdLztE
Mikey gives Teofimo a shot against Lomachenko
“That’s an interesting fight,” Mikey said of the Vasiliy Lomachenko vs. Teofimo Lopez match. “It’s interesting for both. I think it’s a tough fight for both.
“Loma is very talented, but at lightweight, he’s not at his best, probably because he’s fighting bigger guys. Teofimo is a strong dude, though.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Teofimo can pull it off,” Garcia continued. “The general thought is Lomachenko is going to win, but it’s not that easy. Teofimo is strong, and he’s very talented too. He has a good chance,” said Garcia.
Teofimo is a good fighter, but he’s never been in with anyone as talented as Lomachenko. When Teofimo fought Masayoshi Nakatani last year, he struggled to beat him by a 12 round decision. Nakatani’s style confused Teofimo, and he didn’t look like he knew what he was doing.
If a fighter like Nakatani was able to have Lopez tied in knots mentally, imagine what Lomachenko will do. It could be a mismatch unless the 23-year-old Teofimo lands something big.
Lopez’s best chance of winning is for him to load up on everything he throws and hope that something eventually lands on the button of Lomachenko. In other words, Lopez will need to swing for the fences with every punch and pray that he can clip the 32-year-old Lomachenko.
When you only have a puncher’s chance, that doesn’t say much about your hopes of winning. Lopez could end up looking clueless on October 17, and boxing fans will never let him forget it.
Mikey: Spence might not be the same fighter
“Yep,” Mikey said when asked if he thinks the Danny Garcia vs. Errol Spence Jr contest will be an exciting fight. I think Spence, coming off of that accident, might not exactly be the same fighter. So let’s see how he does.
“I think Spence can eventually outbox Danny, but I don’t think he hurts Danny. I think Danny will have some very good moments also.
Danny is very strong too, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he were able to hurt him, considering that Spence is coming off of an accident. You just never know. You really don’t even know,” said Garcia.
IBF/WBC welterweight champion Spence’s car accident from October 10 last year has Mikey wondering if he’s the same guy physically. A lot of boxing fans are wondering that too. That accident was the type that would change anyone, even a non-athlete.
Spence will be defending his IBF/WBC 147-lb titles against the former two-division world champion Danny Garcia on November 21 on Fox pay-per-view.
Spence’s trainer Derrick James insists that he’s physically fine, and he hasn’t seen any signs of him not being convincing.
Of course, you never know. What James sees in training camp doesn’t necessarily mean that Spence won’t struggle when he gets in there against Danny.
Ryan Garcia beats Luke Campbell by knockout
“I believe Ryan wins by knockout,” Mikey said in predicting a victory for Ryan Garcia over Luke Campbell. “And I think Ryan is strong and fast enough to hurt Luke, I think.
“I don’t think much of Campbell. He’s a talented fighter, but he’s never been able to be at the championship level. I don’t see him becoming that. So, I think Ryan wins.
“He [Campbell] was a [Olympic] gold medalist, right? But it’s a whole different thing in the pros,” said Mikey.
Ryan Garcia (20-0, 17 KOs) and Luke Campbell (20-3, 16 KOs) are fighting in November, but the date is still to be decided. The interim WBC lightweight title will be on the line, and the winner will face Devin Haney for his belt.
Mikey doesn’t think too highly of the 32-year-old Luke, but he’s the one that many see as the favorite. Campbell was a bluechip talent turning pro in 2013 after capturing a gold medal in the 2012 Olympics, and he’s exceptionally talented.
Although Campbell has three defeats on his resume, he’s only been truly beaten once against Lomachenko. Campbell’s other two losses were close, controversial decisions to Yvan Mendy and Jorge Linares.
If you take away those defeats, Campbell is 22-1, and he’s got an excellent chance of beating Ryan.
Mikey Garcia wants to fight in the fall
“I felt fat and sluggish,” said Mikey about how he felt in returning to the gym yesterday. “Possibly [fighting this year]. I want to see what I can do. Maybe I’ll fight at the end of the year.
“We’ll see if I can get it, you know? Not quite sure I’ll be able to get a fight by the end of the year, but I’ll explore it and see what I can do. That’s what I’m going to see in the next couple of weeks if I can secure something or find something,” Garcia said.
Mikey needs to start hitting the gym because his physique no longer looks like that of an athlete. He’s let himself go during the coronavirus shutdown, and he needs to start losing weight.
In Mikey’s last fight, he defeated Jessie Vargas in February of this year on DAZN. Before that, Mikey was schooled by Spence in losing a lopsided 12 round decision in March 2019. He talked himself into that fight.
Lately, Mikey had been trying to hustle a match against superstar Manny Pacquiao, but the pandemic interrupted his efforts. If Mikey is going to fight in 2020, it won’t be against Pacquiao.
With it already being September, Mikey doesn’t have a lot of time to find an opponent, lose weight, and get ready. As big as Mikey is right now, it isn’t easy to imagine him getting down to 147.
Some good options for Mikey to fight in the fall:
- Regis Prograis
- Josesito Lopez
- Ray Robinson
- Josh Kelly
- Keith Thurman
- Shawn Porter
- David Avanesyan