By Keith Idec
Robert Garcia considers Vasyl Lomachenko one of the two best boxers in the world.
The veteran trainer also understands why fight fans want to watch his younger brother, Mikey Garcia, test Lomachenko in what would be one of the most intriguing fights that the sport can offer. Robert Garcia just doesn’t think the timing is right for that fight to happen.
Mikey Garcia will compete in his second straight 140-pound bout next month, two weight classes above where Lomachenko currently is a dominant force. Unless Lomachenko moves up from 130 pounds to the lightweight limit of 135 and succeeds, Robert Garcia doesn’t see the point of making Mikey Garcia-Lomachenko.
According to Robert Garcia, if Lomachenko’s technical knockout victory over Guillermo Rigondeaux last month taught us anything, it’s that size matters.
“I think with Loma it’s more about when will they be ready to fight Mikey, not [when] Mikey [is] ready to fight Loma,” Robert Garcia told BoxingScene.com recently. “I really believe size is a big difference. People seen it, the whole boxing world seen it with two Olympic gold medalists fighting each other. But Rigo was just too small. Loma actually said it after the fight, that he doesn’t really wanna get credit for that win because it was just a big size difference. And I think Mikey’s in the same situation if we’re trying to challenge Lomachenko.”
Even if Mikey Garcia (37-0, 30 KOs) defeats IBF junior welterweight champion Sergey Lipinets (13-0, 10 KOs) on February 10 in San Antonio, the WBC lightweight champion might move back down to 135 pounds for a title unification fight against WBA champion Jorge Linares (43-3, 27 KOs) in the summer. Ukraine’s Lomachenko (10-1, 8 KOs), the WBO super featherweight champion, hasn’t decided if he’ll remain at 130 pounds or move up to 135 for his next fight.
“Skills-wise, Loma’s one of my favorite fighters,” Robert Garcia said. “I think, pound-for-pound, he’s one or two in the rankings. But size does make a big difference and I think Mikey’s just way too [much] bigger than him. I think in the future, if Loma wins a title at 135 and dominates the division, as Mikey’s doing, or Mikey would be at 140 by then, then it’s a makeable fight. But it looks more like maybe in the future, not now. I think now, we’re more close to making the Linares fight.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
