By Keith Idec
Mikey Garcia figures Vasyl Lomachenko would welcome a fight against him.
Bob Arum, on the other hand, doesn’t want that fight to happen. That’s what Garcia told a group of reporters following a press conference in Los Angeles on Monday, when his February 10 fight against Sergey Lipinets was officially announced.
“If he wants to move up to 35, we can definitely do that,” Garcia said. “I know Bob won’t say anything positive about that. I don’t even know if [Lomachenko] is actually interested in facing me. The way I know Top Rank works, they’ll have somebody else in line for him to win a title at 35 or maybe even at 40. Most likely, he’s not gonna wanna face me because Bob won’t allow it.”
Arum, Garcia’s former promoter, claimed Lomachenko “would make a joke” of Garcia in the aftermath of Lomachenko’s technical-knockout victory over Guillermo Rigondeaux on December 9 in New York. As confident as Arum sounded about how Ukraine’s Lomachenko would fare against him, Garcia (37-0, 30 KOs) is certain Arum will try to keep Lomachenko (10-1, 8 KOs) away from him even if the WBO 130-pound champion moves up to 135 pounds.
“I don’t think he would [allow us to fight],” Garcia said. “I think Bob Arum has been doing business for so well, for so long, the way he runs his business, that it’s not in his best interest to face me with his fighters. Whether it’s financial reasons or taking a loss or whatever, I think he’s not gonna be very excited to work, do business with me. But I know Lomachenko would take the fight, and I also would take that fight. So maybe down the road we could actually have that fight.”
Garcia, 30, endured a 2½-year layoff while engaged in a contractual battle with Arum’s Top Rank Inc. The three-division champion from Oxnard, California, settled with Top Rank in May 2016 and has since established himself as one of the top 10 boxers, pound-for-pound, in the sport.
The WBC lightweight champion will attempt to win a title in a fourth weight class when he challenges Kazakhstan’s Lipinets (13-0, 10 KOs) for the IBF junior welterweight title February 10 at the Alamodome in San Antonio (Showtime). Garcia gladly would move back down to lightweight, though, for a chance to face the acclaimed Lomachenko.
“I think I’d beat him,” Garcia said. “I think my skills, my ability, my strength, my size advantage definitely helps me. He’s a great fighter. He’s got great skills, but I wanna see him fight guys, at least in his division, all the champions, like [Gervonta] Davis or [Miguel] Berchelt, guys that are the same size and are very talented as well, strong guys. I think he still has a chance to beat these guys, like I mentioned, but they present a real challenge, not smaller guys.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
