By Keith Idec
Mikey Garcia has consistently stated since his fight against Adrien Broner was announced last month that he intends to return to lightweight for his next bout.
As we get closer to their July 29 fight in Brooklyn, though, Garcia (36-0, 30 KOs) seems more open to remaining at 140 pounds after battling Broner (33-2, 24 KOs, 1 NC). The WBC lightweight champion even mentioned moving up to welterweight while discussing the Broner bout as part of a conference call Thursday.
The 29-year-old Garcia embraced boxing Broner because he has having difficulty securing the lightweight championship unification fight he sought. The Oxnard, California, native made it clear he won’t wait around again if he can’t land fights against WBA champion Jorge Linares (42-3, 27 KOs), IBF champion Robert Easter Jr. (20-0, 14 KOs) or whoever wins the recently postponed mandatory match between WBO champion Terry Flanagan (33-0, 13 KOs) and No. 1 contender Felix Verdejo (23-0, 15 KOs).
“I still have plans on coming down to 135 to unify the titles,” Garcia said. “But after being in boxing so long, and learning the politics and the business side, you’ve gotta be able to adjust and make those adjustments and continue with my career. I’m not gonna sit around and wait for a fight, or chase anybody. I’m here to take on the biggest fights available, the biggest challenges available, whether that means at 135 or 140 or possibly even 147.”
Beating Broner would firmly establish Garcia as one of the top 140-pound boxers in the sport and could thrust him into position to fight the winner of the Terence Crawford-Julius Indongo fight next month. Crawford (31-0, 22 KOs), the WBC/WBO super lightweight champion from Omaha, Nebraska, and Namibia’s Indongo (22-0, 11 KOs), the IBF/IBO/WBA 140-pound champion, are scheduled to square off August 19 at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska (ESPN).
Showtime will televise Broner-Garcia as a main event from Barclays Center. The telecast also will include a WBC middleweight elimination match that’ll pit Houston’s Jermall Charlo (25-0, 19 KOs) against Argentina’s Sebastian Heiland (29-4-2, 16 KOs).
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
