By Dan Ambrose: Manny Pacquiao is reportedly interested in facing former four-division world champion Mikey Garcia at 147 for his next fight instead of Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford.
The Filipino star heading towards a fight against Mikey (40-1, 33 KOs) confirms what he’s been saying recently about a fight against Pacquiao being close.
Mikey, 33, is so confident of getting the fight against Pacquiao that he’s speaking of betting $1 million on himself to win.
Pacquiao told ABSCBNNews, “We’re leaning towards Mikey Garcia.”
Although Pacquiao hasn’t made it official yet that he’ll be fighting Mikey, it’s looking like he’ll take the fights.
On paper, it’s an easy fight for Pacquiao to win, as Mikey has looked like a sub-level fighter since moving up to 147.
The Southern California native Mikey lost badly to IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr in a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision in March 2019 by the wide scores: 120-107, 120-108, and 120-108.
Last year, Mikey struggled to beat bottom-dweller welterweight Jessie Vargas by a 12 round decision. Since then, Mikey has shown no interest in fighting anyone but the 42-year-old Pacquiao.
Indeed, Garcia has campaigned hard for the fight against the former eight-division world champion, sounding like a politician running for office at times.
To say that Mikey has sounded needy is putting it lightly. He’s had a single-minded focus on the Pacquiao fight only, not letting go of his goal of getting that fight.
The downside of Pacquiao taking the fight against Mikey is that it will likely make less money for him than if he were to face Errol Spence Jr or Terence Crawford.
Hardcore boxing fans understand that Mikey isn’t one of the elite welterweights in the division, and he’s just looking to talk his way into a fight that he can’t win against Pacquiao. As a result, the pay-per-view buys that Pacquiao – Mikey fight will generate would almost surely be lower than if Manny fought Crawford or Spence.
The reason for that is simple. The fans would know that Pacquiao vs. Garcia is a mismatch in favor of the Philippino star, and people don’t want to spend $70+ to watch a pay-per-view fight in which they know who the winner will be.
Also, Mikey has shown no interest in fighting any of the top 147-pounders to get the fight with Pacquiao. The casual boxing fans that know very little about the sport will be roped into paying to see Pacquiao fight Mikey, but not the hardcore fans.
The fight might still do well because of Pacquiao’s large fan base in the U.S. If the fight is sold as a ‘going out of business’ type fight for Pacquiao, his loyal fans will order it to see him fight one more time.
Mikey hasn’t earned the fight with Pacquiao by beating solid top 10 welterweights like Vergil Ortiz Jr, Shawn Porter, Yordenis Ugas, or Keith Thurman. Mikey would likely lose badly to all of those fighters.
It looks like a cash-out for Mikey, who would be a good fighter still if he fought at 130 or 135, but not at 140 or 147. He’s too small for those weight classes, and he also doesn’t throw enough punches.
If Mikey had just taken one fight against the likes of Porter, Ugas, Ortiz Jr, Thurman, or even Danny Garcia, and showed that he could beat one of them, there would be more interest in a match between him and Pacquiao.
But Mikey hasn’t done that; he’s been sitting around getting fat and just talking about how he wants to fight Pacquiao. With Mikey so out of shape, it’s looked like a complete farce to hear him talking about how he wants Pacquiao. Mikey’s overweight physique has made him like a non-athlete.