By Dan Ambrose: Mikey Garcia says is Manny Pacquiao is ready to return to the ring to fight a “real fighter” for a “real challenge,” he need not look any further than him.
After seven years of pursuing the fight with Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs), Mikey (40-1, 33 KOs) hopes the Filipino star will look in his direction for his next match in 2021.
Pacquiao, 42, revealed earlier this week that he’s started training for his next fight, but it’s unclear who he’ll be fighting.
A couple of weeks ago, it was believed that Pacquiao was on his way to fighting Ryan Garcia, but those plans may have changed.
Ryan is being linked to a fight against Javier Fortuna next, and then Teofimo Lopez in the second half of this year.
It’s certainly possible that Pacquiao could throw a bone to the inactive Mikey and fight him. It doesn’t seem likely, though.
Mikey targeting early summer
“I’m training, this is the third or fourth week, I forgot,” said Mikey Garcia to Fighthype. “We’re picking up the pace. I feel good, feel better. It was just getting started.
“You’ve got to take it slow. You can’t go too hard, or you burn yourself out, but now we’ve done enough to pick up the pace. I feel good; it’s going well.
“And I want to get some fights, and I want to get back in it. I think this will be a good year to get boxing and get the world back to normal, normality.
“I’m just getting started. I don’t have a date yet. I would like a fight in early summer. So that’s what I’ve been kind of trying to look for, but we still don’t have any dates or names or anything like that.
“We’re just getting ready by working out so when I do have a date, I can map out my schedule, my eight-week, ten-week camp. So that way, I’m ready for it, but right now, I’m kind of pre-camp type of scenario.
“I’ve always said that my next fight will be at 147. I don’t plan on moving down right now. Maybe after the fight if there’s something exciting at 140, but there’s not really anything at 140 that excites me enough.
So I plan on saying at 147 and persuing another world title fight at welterweight,” said Mikey.
It’s understandable why Mikey is waiting until the summer before he returns to the ring.
The longer Mikey delays making a choice, the more chance he has of crowds allowed back in by the time he does fight.
Also, it makes sense for Mikey to wait in case Pacquiao looks in his direction and chooses to fight him.
I doubt that Pacquiao will fight Mikey at this point, seeing that he’s done nothing with his career since his last quality win against Adrien Broner in 2017.
Garcia wants to give Pacquiao a REAL fight
“I would love to fight Manny [Pacquiao]. We were close to getting that last year,” said Garcia. “However, with COVID, the pandemic, and everything shutting down, we were not able to make that happen last year.
“And then this year, we heard of other fights [for Pacquiao], Conor [McGregor], Ryan [Garcia], a few other fights like that. I don’t know what his plan is.
“If Manny decides to take on something like that, so be it, I’ll move on. I’m not going to sit around and wait and wait, and then I’ll look for something else.
“But if Manny is available, and he wants to get in the ring with a real fighter, and have a real challenge and a real fight for the fans, then I’m it.
“There’s no one else that is accomplished enough to be in that spotlight to be in that position like I have,” said Garcia.
Pacquiao will likely choose someone that has kept their career active and not stalled it out the way Mikey has fishing for paydays. Manny can probably make more money fighting these fighters than he can Mikey:
- Terence Crawford
- Errol Spence Jr
- Danny Garcia
- Keith Thurman
- Shawn Porter
- Ryan Garcia
- Conor McGregor
- Teofimo Lopez
- Devin Haney
- Gervonta Davis
In Mikey’s last fight against Jessie Vargas in February 2020, he was outworked by him and didn’t look impressive.
Mikey’s low work rate kept Vargas in the fight, and some boxing fans saw the contest as a draw despite Mikey dropping him in the fifth.
He’s never had a high punch output, even when he was fighting at 126 and 130, but it’s more of a problem now that he’s fighting at 147.
That low work rate will continue to hold Mikey back from success because he doesn’t have the size to compete at welterweight.
Mikey makes his case for Pacquiao fight
“I think the fans would really enjoy it. It’s a great fight, a great match-up,” said Mikey. “We’ve talked about this for the last six years, seven years.
“There was a conversation about a possible fight between me and Manny in the future. Well, here we are, we are in the future. The time is now.
“With everybody like last year being in the lockdown and the whole pandemic and everything, people want to see some good fights.
“They want to experience a good fight and a good event. I think Manny Pacquiao is a great, great fighter; he’s a legend.
“If I were to get in the ring with him, I would do everything I can to put on the best performance.
“To fight the best, to fight the hardest. That’s what I’m about, and I think it would be a terrific match-up.
“There are not as many fights out there that can be as exciting as that fight, and that’s why I would love it,” said Mikey Garcia about how interested he is in fighting Pacquiao.
Some boxing fans would enjoy watching Pacquiao fight Mikey, but many would be upset at the idea of paying to watch Manny fight a guy that is just cashing out.
That’s why it was a mistake on Mikey’s part to not stay busy with his career and fight better opposition.
Last year, Mikey should have fought Danny Garcia, Yordenis Ugas, Porter, or Thurman instead of fighting just once against Vargas.