Mikey Garcia smokes Manny Pacquiao says Vergil Ortiz Jr

By Boxing News - 03/05/2021 - Comments

By Jeff Henninger: Vergil Ortiz Jr believes Mikey Garcia will easily beat Manny Pacquiao when the two off battle it out in their potential fight in May.

Unbeaten welterweight contender Ortiz Jr (16-0, 16 KOs) says Mikey (40-1, 33 KOs) is similar to boxing great Juan Manuel Marquez but much better. Pacquiao was knocked out in the sixth round by Marquez in their fourth fight in 2012.

Mikey, 33, revealed this week that he’s in negotiations with Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs), and it’s close to being finalized for a fight in May.

Will Pacquiao vs. Mikey fight happen?

With that said, Pacquiao, 42, and his management haven’t confirmed that they’re in talks with Mikey, so it’s unknown if the fight will happen.

This isn’t the first time that Mikey has talked up a clash between him and Pacquiao, and then nothing has come from it.

Image: Mikey Garcia smokes Manny Pacquiao says Vergil Ortiz Jr

Most boxing fans would agree that Mikey will have many problems trying to beat Pacquiao, as his modest work-rate will make it difficult for him to keep up with the Filipino star.

Mikey’s punch output or lack thereof is similar to that of Adrien ‘The Problem’ Broner since moving up to 147. Pacquiao easily beat Broner by simply outworking him in 2019, and the chances are high he’ll do the same with Mikey.

“Mikey smokes him,” said Vergil Orti Jr to ESNEWS about his Pacquiao vs. Garcia fight prediction. “First of all, I’d like to say that Mikey is a better version of [Juan Manuel] Marquez, like way better.

“I think he’s [Mikey] smarter, he’s more explosive, I think he’s stronger than him [Pacquiao].

“I think I’ve said in different interviews before, Mikey is the only boxer who’s like really broken me down inside the ring.

Image: Mikey Garcia smokes Manny Pacquiao says Vergil Ortiz Jr

“I’ve gotten 10 times better just sparring Mikey than I ever did sparring anyone else,” Ortiz Jr says.

Is Pacquiao too busy for Garcia?

Mikey has looked so utterly average in his two fights at 147 against Errol Spence Jr and Jessie Vargas. With the way Mikey has performed at 140 and 147, it’s difficult to take him seriously as an opponent for Manny.

Mikey looks like another Broner, a fighter that was elite at 130 and 135 but too small, slow, and ill-equipped for the rigors of the 140 and 147-lb divisions.

It would have been great if Mikey proved himself first at 147 before talking his way into a fight with Pacquiao, as then boxing fans would take him seriously.

Right now, it looks like Mikey just wants a payday against a fighter that he has zero chance of beating. What we saw from Mikey against Vargas and Spence is a bottom-level welterweight in terms of ability and not nearly good enough to beat Pacquiao.

If Mikey had shown that he could beat Shawn Porter, Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia, or Yordenis Ugas, you could take him seriously. Those contenders would likely beat Mikey just on work-rate alone.

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Mikey doesn’t throw enough punches per round to beat the top-tier welterweights, and that’s something that won’t change no matter how much Ortiz Jr talks him up.

Vergil Ortiz Jr ready for a title shot

“I just hope I get those fights. That’s my main goal right now is to get those fights,” said Ortiz about him wanting to face Terence Crawford, Errol Spence Jr, and the other top welterweights.

“Some people think I don’t deserve it, and some people think I’m too young and inexperienced. People have their own argument about why [I don’t deserve a shot], but pretty soon, it won’t matter what they say.

“Yeah,” said Ortiz Jr when asked if he’ll be fighting Crawford soon.

Vergil Ortiz Jr 16-0, 16 KOs) still needs to win his fight this month against former WBO light welterweight champion Maurice Hooker (27-3-1, 18 KOs) on March 20th before he can start talking about challenging WBO 147-lb champion Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford for his title.

Hooker has a great chance of beating Ortiz this month because he’s got the power, size, and experience to hand him his first career defeat. It’s not a good sign that Ortiz Jr admits to having problems in sparring little 5’6″ Mikey Garcia.

If Ortiz Jr can’t get the better of Mikey, the chances of him beating Hooker are low. Hooker would likely beat Mikey if the two fought now at 147.

Ortiz favors Jose Ramirez over Josh Taylor

“We saw what [Ivan] Baranchyk did to [Josh] Taylor; he made him really uncomfortable,” said Vergil in talking about Taylor’s fight against Baranchyk from 2019.

“Baranchyk is one of those fighters that throws a lot, he’s strong, but that’s what he does. He comes forward and throws, and he doesn’t really move his head.

“He doesn’t think. Jose [Ramirez] is a lot smarter than that, and I think he’s more relentless than Baranchyk, and he’s a lot smarter,” said Ortiz.

WBC/WBO light welterweight champion Jose Ramirez is already the underdog in his unification fight against IBF/WBA champion Josh Taylor. Perhaps Ortiz sees something that the oddsmakers don’t, but just going off their recent fights, Taylor looks like the better fighter.