On Monday, three division world champion Mikey Garcia (37-0, 30 KOs) explained on social media that he rejected a potential multi-million dollar deal to fight Miguel Cotto on December 2 - because the agreement would have to include a multi-fight promotional deal with Golden Boy Promotions, who work with Cotto.
“Not bad but I’m doing better on my own,” Garcia tweeted Monday. “Why not cotto only and no further commitment?”
As it stands right now, Cotto is close to finalizing a deal to fight welterweight contender Sadam Ali, as the headline fight of an HBO televised card from Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Cotto instead is scheduled next week to sign to fight New York’s former welterweight world-title fighter Saddam Ali.
According to Garcia, beyond a fight with Cotto and WBA lightweight champion Jorge Linares, Golden Boy would not be able to get him the big fights with other key opponents - handled by adviser Al Haymon or Las Vegas based promoter Top Rank.
Garcia would rather remain a free agent with no promotional ties - allowing him to fight anyone and on any network.
“I took a step back, looked at everything and was like, ‘They can’t guarantee me [those] opponents. It’s only Cotto and Linares. So how much can they guarantee me — purses and names?’” Garcia said to the Los Angeles Times. “Good proposal, but not exciting enough to jump on.”
Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya feels Garcia has made a big mistake in rejecting their proposal and should have come on board. In the opinion of De La Hoya, Garcia - and every other fighter, needs a promoter.
“A fighter needs a promoter who knows how to guide his career — what the next step and move is,” De La Hoya told The Times. “You need a team, a partner … Anthony Joshua has a promoter [England’s Eddie Hearn], and we promote Canelo [Alvarez].
“The fighter needs that someone with a vision, a plan, someone to work for them and make them Hall of Famers … it frustrates me because I’m an ambassador of the sport, because I love boxing and I want the sport to grow. We’ve had great events this year. Boxing is on a winning streak and I want it to continue that way.”
“Why do you think Canelo Alvarez is the only superstar in boxing? He’s the only guy who can walk down streets and people will stop and recognize him,” De La Hoya said. “Everybody else is almost irrelevant. I’m criticizing the [other] fighters for listening to whoever’s advising them.”