By Dan Ambrose: Mikey Garcia weighed in at 143.6 lbs during Friday’s weigh-in for his 10-round tune-up fight against Spaniard Sandor Martin on Saturday night live on DAZN. Martin (38-2, 13 KOs_ weighed in at 144 lbs. Saturday’s fight will be taking place at the Chukchansi Park, in Fresno, California.

Mikey (40-1, 30 KOs) looked a little soft around the midsection, but that’s not unexpected. As inactive as he’s been in the last seven years, he might lose to Sandor Martin.

Indeed, it wouldn’t surprise this writer at all if Sandor beats Mikey because he doesn’t seem like he’s head in the game any longer.

Ever since Mikey fled the 135-lb division when boxing fans were trying to encourage him to fight Vasily Lomachenko, he’s seemed more focused on hustling fights against guys way too big and powerful for him at 147.

It’s believed by some boxing fans that Mikey’s weight was in the 180+ lb during the year and a half that he’s been out of the ring since his last fight against Jessie Vargas in February 2020.

Choosing Sandor Martin was a mistake

This is fight is arguably a test case for Mikey, 33, to show whether he’s still marketable enough for DAZN to commit big money to put on a fight between him and former WBA 140-lb champion Regis Prograis in 2022.

It might have been a BIG mistake for Matchroom Boxing to choose the obscure Sandor Martin as Mikey’s opponent instead of a notable fighter that hardcore and casual boxing fans have heard of.

One of these fighters would have been ideal for Mikey:

Subriel Matias
Jose Zepeda
Pablo Cesar Cano
Viktor Postol
Gary Antuanne Russell
Montana Love
Sakhram Giyasov
Jose Ramirez

At this point in Mikey’s career, I doubt that he could beat even half of those fighters.

He’s looked terrible at 140 and 147, as he’s too small, and he doesn’t throw enough punches to beat fighters in those weight classes. When Mikey fought at 126, 130, and 135, his power was more formidable and he could get away with his anemic work rate. He can’t do that at 140 or 147, not when he’s facing live bodies.

Mikey could wind up regretting agreeing to fight Sandor for his tune-up because this fight might not bring in good numbers in terms of subscribers and viewer ratings on Saturday.

If the fight fails to bring in the big numbers, it’s predictable that DAZN won’t be enthusiastic and paying the big purses required for the Mikey vs. Prograis fight to take place in early 2022.

Prograis a possibility for Mikey in 2022

Mikey looked a lot smaller than Vargas, and his power wasn’t good enough to stop the faded former WBO 147-lb champion. The fights that Mikey wants against Josh Taylor and Regis Prograis, he might not have enough size to win them.

“I still want that fight,” said Mikey Garcia to iFL TV about a match against Regis Prograis. “There was never a contract presented. There was never anything formally done and the reason for that is the time frame for that promotion, for that fight to happen.

“A fight like that takes a bigger budget, which unfortunately for a bigger budget, you need more time to promote to generate that kind of money to get Regis and me in the ring,” said Mikey about the Prograis fight.

“If on Saturday night things go well maybe we can continue that and secure that.

“I know he’s a very good boxer. I saw some video of him and he’s a good southpaw,” Mikey said about Sandor Martin. “Fighting a southpaw is always a challenge. I expect him to try and upset me.

“I want to show everyone who I am and I’m not gone and there’s still more to deliver out of Mikey Garcia. There’s still more world championships to win,” said Mikey when asked what keeps him in the game at age 33.

“There are big fights in front of me. This is a fight to get back. After this, you’re going to see me in bigger fights, and next year, you might see me in huge mega-fights against Josh Taylor, Gervonta Davis. Those would be huge match-ups and that’s what I’m shooting for. That’s where I want to be,” said Mikey.

Mikey wants Josh Taylor and Tank Davis in 2022

“I don’t feel like I can come down to 135,” Mikey said. “That’s not a weight class I want to be in.

“I think 140 is an ideal weight class for me. This fight on Saturday night is at 145. Me at 140 and 147 is the same guy. So we decided on 145 because it was the timeframe that we had to prepare.

“It’s kind of hard to come down to 140 with only five weeks of camp. But the idea is after this fight to come back to 140 for a future fight, especially if we’re looking at fights against Josh Taylor and Gervonta Davis.

“Those guys are at 140. So I think that’s the goal for the next few fights,” said Mikey.

Josh Taylor and Gervonta Davis are too talented, and much too active with their careers for Mikey to beat them. I mean, if Mikey wants a good cash-out fight, either of them is fine. But he’s not going to beat either of those fighters, and it could be another Errol Spence Jr. type of outcome for Mikey.

Undercard weights for Mikey Garcia vs. Sandor Martin:

Elwin Soto 107.8 vs. Jonathan Gonzalez 108
Juan Alejandro Burgos 110 vs. Jesse Rodriguez 109.2
Brock Jarvis 134.8 vs. Alejandro Frias Rodriguez 134
Marc Castro 129.6 vs. Angel Luna 130.4
Diego Pacheco 166.2 vs. Lucas de Abreu 166.4
Nikita Ababiy 159.2 vs. Sanny Duversonne 160
Luciano Ramos 137.8 vs. Charlie Sheehy 134.2
Oscar Alan Perez 135.2 vs. Raymundo Rios Cardiel 139.6