By Brad Slotnick: Mikey Garcia says he would potentially be interested in a fight with Regis Prograis if it were offered to him in a structured way that made sense. That would be a tough fight for Mikey, and there’s a good chance that Prograis (26-1, 22 KOs) would beat him.
Fans would like to see Mikey fight the former WBA light welterweight champion Prograis (26-1, 22 KOs) because neither has anything scheduled.
Mikey, 33, hasn’t fought in 16 months since his win over Jessie Vargas in February 2020, and he doesn’t have anything scheduled. There’s a good chance that we might not see Mikey fight at all in 2020.
Mikey’s inactivity is making him irrelevant to the popular fighters, who are staying active. In the year and a half that Mikey has been out of the ring, he could have fought three to four times during that time span.
Even if Mikey weren’t getting a monstrous payday each time, those fights would add up, and he’d be better off than sitting inactive, focusing on his car hobby.
Mikey’s problem is he appears to be chasing big payday fights against guys like Manny Pacquiao, but he’s failing to stay active.
Mikey is waiting for the right fight that comes along that checks all the boxes, but it’s not happening. What’s compounding the problem is Mikey’s inactivity.
He’s not showing interest to say busy fighting 140 and 147-pounders to remain a viable option for the big names.
Mikey sounds lukewarm about fighting Prograis
“I’ve had conversations where his name came up in past conversations where they proposed a possible fight and asked, ‘Would that be of interest to you?'” said Mikey Garcia to Fighthype about him fighting Regis Prograis.
“My answer has always been, ‘Yes, I’m interested in anybody that’s available for the time frame that I want to get back in the ring. That’s all that we’ve had as far as having a conversation [about a fight with Prograis].
“I know he was on the phone with my brother, but I didn’t know what they were talking about. I didn’t watch it. Robert didn’t tell me.
“He’s a cool dude, I ran into him a couple of times, but we never had anything against each other to like, ‘I want to fight you.’ Nothing like that, but if the fight is actually proposed and structured and it makes sense, and it’s a good deal for both people, sure, I’m interested in fighting anybody that’s available,” said Mikey.
It’s too bad Mikey doesn’t seem excited about fighting Prograis because it looks like he’s got no other options.
If Mikey sitting around hoping Manny Pacquiao will look his way, he’s kidding himself.
Pacquiao obviously has noticed that Mikey has been sitting idle for a prolonged period of time, and he’s not going to want to fight him if he thinks that the fans won’t be interested.
Mikey was never a huge star because he fought in the lower weight classes, and he was out of the ring for almost three years during his promotional issues with Top Rank.
Now, Mikey is derailing his career again by not fighting. This might be it for him. He’s not like Mike Tyson or Oscar De La Hoya, who can sit out of the ring for 12 years and come back to make huge money.
Garcia rules out Teofimo Lopez, and Danny Garcia fights
“As long as they’re working with Top Rank, that’s kind of a roadblock because of my relationship with them,” said Mikey when asked if he’d be interested in fighting Teofimo Lopez.
“That complicates things. Sure, I’d like to take a fight like that; I think that would be a great fight. But anybody that’s available for the timeframe that we want, f*** yeah. 40 or 47 for the right opponent.
“He announced not too long ago that he’ll be fighting at 154,” said Mikey Garcia when asked if he’d like to fight Danny Garcia. “People don’t know what goes into securing a fight. People think it’s easier. It’s not that easy,” said Mikey.
It would be nice if Mikey at least tried to test the waters by contacting Top Rank to see if they’d be interested in making a fight between him and Teofimo.
