By Dan Ambrose: Mikey Garcia says he’s open to moving back down to 140 for fights against Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis and or Teofimo Lopez if either of them ever moves to that weight class. Mikey says he won’t move back down to 135 to fight them.
Tank and Teofimo might be too young, too powerful, and too active for Mikey, who doesn’t appear to be a top fighter anymore. Mikey has been resting on his past accomplishments in the last two years, and, likely, he’ll never win another world title for the remainder of his career.
Garcia (40-1, 30 KOs) is currently campaigning as a welterweight, and he’s going to be attempting to set up a fight against WBA welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao in 2021. Mikey sees it as a great fight and an excellent style match-up between them.
Mikey will likely stay at 147 until he gets his money to fight with Pacquiao. Once that fight is over with, Mikey will have pretty much exhausted the money fights available to him in that division. He already fought IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr last year and lost to him.
If Mikey loses to Pacquiao two, his record would be 1-2 at 147, and he’d have a hard time trying to talk talented fighters like Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia, or Shawn Porter into fighting him.
There’s no chance of Mikey moving down to 140 and fighting for a world title against the champions Josh Taylor and Jose Ramirez.
Those two are with Top Rank, and it’s not a good situation for Mikey to line up fights against either of them because he was with that promotional company years ago.
Mikey open to fighting Tank and Teofimo at 140
“I’m not coming down to 135 anytime soon, probably never,” said Mikey Garcia to Fighthype when asked if he’d be interested in fighting Tank Davis. “Maybe 140. Maybe I could do that.
“Come down to 140, and meet some of the guys there at 140; some of the lightweights there like Tank, even though he’s cool with me too. But hey, business is business.
“Maybe [Teofimo] Lopez if he decides to move up to 140. Those would be good fights at 140. Title or no title, it would be good. But if I want a title fight, the 140-pound division isn’t the division for me right now,” said Garcia.
“I don’t know. I think I’m going to go with Tank,” Mikey said when asked, ‘Who wins between Teofimo Lopez and Tank Davis?’
It would be brave and ambitious on Mikey’s part if he did attempt to work a deal to fight Tank Davis and or Teofimo Lopez, as it would create a lot of interest with the boxing fans.
It would help erase the perception in the eyes of many boxing fans about Mikey just looking to cash out with a money fight against Manny Pacquiao. The way that Mikey has been single-mindedly pursuing the fight Pacquiao fight above all else, it has cash-grab written all over it.
If Mikey had beaten some quality fighters at 147 to earn the fight with Pacquiao, fans would suspect that he’s just cashing out. But Mikey hasn’t done that. He’s fought twice at 147, losing to Spence and beating the shot Jessie Vargas.
Garcia picks Gervonta to beat Lopez
“Tank might be a little bit too strong for Lopez. But Lopez is strong too. It’s a toss-up. I’m leaning towards Tank, but it’s a close one,” Garcia said in choosing Gervonta to defeat Teofimo.
“It’ll probably go the distance. I think Teofimo,” Mikey said when asked, ‘who wins between Teofimo Lopez and Devin Haney?’
“We need to see more [of Haney]. I’ve seen him way before, and he’s excellent. He’s got excellent skills.
“The talent is there, but we need to see more [of Haney]. The talent is there, there’s no question, but we need to see a little bit more to be more convinced,” said Mikey.
Teofimo would have the size, youth, and boxing ability to defeat Tank Davis right now. Davis (24-0, 23 KOs) is only 5’5″, and he’d be giving away size and speed against Teofimo if that fight happened.
We saw Teofimo outbox and outslug Vasily Lomachenko last month in beating him by a 12 round decision on October 17th. Davis wouldn’t be able to outbox Lomachenko in the same way that Lopez did.
Mikey is wrong in picking Tank Davis to beat Teofimo because he struggled last weekend, beating Leo Santa Cruz.
If Davis’ skills were better, he could have made an easy fight out of it in beating Santa Cruz. Carl Frampton did a better job of defeating Santa Cruz than Davis did.
Mikey planning on fighting Pacquiao in 2021
“Yep,” Mikey said when asked if he’s still planning on trying to get a fight against Manny Pacquiao in 2021. “That’s still the plan. In boxing terms, that’s my best fight.
“Also, Manny’s best fight would be against me for many reasons. Financially, it makes the most sense for him also, but also with the styles. It’s an attractive fight.
“Mexican and a Filipino and the fans and exciting styles. I think that’s a great fight for both of us,” Garcia said about him and Pacquiao.
Mikey sure does want to fight the soon to be 42-year-old Pacquiao in 2021, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. With the pandemic going on, Pacquiao’s hands are tied. He’s a senator in the Philippines with designs of running for the president of the country.
It would look awful if Pacquiao dropped his senatorial duties during the pandemic to come to the United States to fill his pockets with money in a mismatch against Mikey Garcia.
Mikey wants the fight with Pacquiao, but it’s probably not going to happen next year if the pandemic stays around.
What Mikey should do is stay busy and fight someone like WBA ‘regular’ welterweight champion Yordenis Ugas or WBA Gold 147-lb champion Vergil Ortiz Jr while he waits for the pandemic to clear up.
Errol Spence beats Danny Garcia if he’s 100% healthy
Errol Spence beats Danny Garcia if he’s 100% healthy“Garcia-Spence, I think that’s going to be a good one,” said Mikey. “I want to see how Errol is after that accident a year ago.
“If he’s 100% ready and healed, he should win by decision. But if that accident still has effects and slows him down, then Danny has a good chance. Danny is strong.
“He’s not an opponent. And he’s a former champion and a world-class fighter. He’s dangerous, hits hard, and is strong. And he’s got a lot of faith and confidence in his power. He’s always dangerous.
“We’re not boxing this year,” Mikey said when asked when he’ll be fighting next. “This was a big break for everybody. So I take a break too,” said Mikey.
Spence (26-0, 21 KOs) will likely beat Danny Garcia if he was fully back from his car accident last year. We don’t know if Spence has recovered fully yet or if he ever will.
Danny Garcia has the power to knock Spence out even if he’s healthy, but he probably won’t be able to deal with him if he boxes. Keith Thurman got the better of Danny, and so did Shawn Porter.
Danny has the power to beat these guys, but he’s not the same fighter he once was since he moved up to 147. He should think about moving back down to 140 if he loses to Spence.