Barthelemy Wants to Fight All the Top Fighters at 130

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    rances-barthelemy_1402597539Rances Barthelemy was coming off a very impressive performance in his rematch with Argenis Mendez where he won the 130lb IBF world title. He dominated Mendez in the first fight scoring what we thought was a knockout victory. However the knockout came after the bell.

    With an opportunity to shine on Showtime as the main event against Fernando Saucedo, Barthelemy felt he didn’t deliver as he wanted to even though he got the win.

    “I feel good but not 100 % happy,” Barthelemy told ThaBoxingVoice.com. “I believed I could do damage and put him down. But you have to give him (Saucedo) credit and his experience for him to recover and survive in there. I think I relaxed a bit because I felt he wasn’t on my level. I gave him too many chances to stay in the fight.”

    Barthelemy feels that even though he didn’t get the result he wanted, he still believes in his power and feels its legit.

    “I try to just win but the public likes the knockout and I want to give them that. But there are different styles people bring and it’s not always going to be a knockout. I have the power and I hurt the guy but I could have done better.”

    So what’s next for the 130 champion? If he had his choice It would be Mikey Garcia but he’ll fight whoever Al Haymon and his management put in front of him.

    “I want Mikey Garcia,” explained Barthelemy. “If Mikey Garcia’s not there, I’ll talk to my team. If it’s Orlando Salido, it’s Salido. If it’s someone in China or Japan, I’ll go there. I’ll fight whoever but it’s up to my team and what Al Haymon wants but I do want Mikey Garcia.”

    Javier Fortuna was in attendance and he himself has a fight in November and when we spoke to his manager Sampson Lewkowicz, he felt Fortuna was ready for a title shot next year. So maybe Fortuna was doing some homework on Barthelemy. Barthelemy says Fortuna wants no part of him.

    “He knows what the Cuban School is, he’s not crazy and he knows what happened between us.”