By Miguel Rivera
World Boxing Council President Mauricio Sulaiman has revealed that WBC lightweight world champion Mikey Garcia requested permission to fight Adrien Broner on July 29th, before an eventual showdown with mandatory challenger Jorge Linares .
Garcia, 29, will rise to super lightweight to challenge four-division world champion champion Broner, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The WBC Diamond title will be at stake in the fight.
Linares was the WBC champion, but because he was injured the sanctioning body made him a "champion in recess" in early 2016 and then ordered a fight for the vacant belt - which Dejan Zlaticanin won. In January of this year, Garcia knocked out Zlaticanin to capture the WBC crown.
Linares, who holds the WBA championship at 135, is also the WBC's Diamond champion at the weight. Because he is a "champion in recess" and never actually lost the title, the sanctioning body is going to order a fight between him and Garcia.
Garcia has already stated that after the contest with Broner he intends to return to the lightweight division to face Linares.
As BoxingScene.com recently reported, Linares is likely going to return to the ring on September 23. The opponent and the location is unknown, but Golden Boy Promotions has ruled out the rumored candidate, Olympic gold medal winner Luke Campbell.
"Mikey Garcia will meet with Broner in a super lightweight fight. We have a request from his promoters to deliver the diamond belt at super lightweight [for that contest] and [Garcia] confirmed to me that his plan is to return to lightweight and make the fight with Linares," Sulaiman said to ESPN Deportes.
Garcia is technically a free agent and has the ability to work with anyone, although all three of his fights since returning to the ring in 2016 have been handled by Al Haymon's Premier Boxing Champions.