Mikey Garcia: ‘People Are Saying Me vs. Pacquiao but Nothing Is Official’

    5
    2016

    mikeypacquiao2014_90075Mikey Garcia (34-0 KO’s 28) is a young 26-year-old fighter, who is rapidly rising in popularity and stature in the sport of boxing. Dominant performances against Orlando Salido, Juan Manuel Lopez, and Juan Carlos Burgos have enabled him to be in the discussion of being a possible top ten pound for pound fighter. Then due to legality issues with Top Rank, Garcia’s career came to a sudden halt.

    The last time Garcia stepped into the ring for a live prizefight was in January of this year. November is now right around the corner, and Garcia still does not know when he will be back in the ring. Garcia stated, “I don’t know when [I’ll be back in the ring]. It’s tough we are trying to get back as soon as we can, but we just can’t get it.”

    The long layoff has also affected Garcia’s career in regards to his weight class.

    “We want to come back at a catch weight between 137 and 140. That way I can decide whether I stay at 140 or maybe move down, but as it is right now, I have no plans yet.”

    “I can’t make 135 right now. If I can lose the weight to 135 I’ll come back down. I want to see how I do in the first fight coming back. It’s been a long time.”

    Fortunately there is an upside if Garcia does decide to move into the light welterweight division. He would be in line to fight against big names such as Ruslan Provodkinov, Chris Algieri, or Mike Alvarado. Garcia stated, “We are willing to fight anybody, we just have to make sure it’s the right move.”

    The boxing public has also thrown Manny Pacquiao’s name into the discussion. Garcia explained “[A Manny Pacquiao fight], that’s what all the people are saying, but nothing like that has been said officially by the promoters.”

    Garcia’s future seems uncertain as of right now. No one knows exactly when he will enter the ring. As the legality issues continue, Garcia’s career will continue to remain on the sidelines. Whenever Garcia does step in the ring, it wouldn’t come a moment too soon.