WBC lightweight champion Mikey Garcia (37-0, 30 KOs) wants to stay engaged and patient, not taking his eye off the main goal.
During a conference call linked to the weekly World Boxing Council presser at the Rail Union in Mexico City, he outlined and signaled his plans.
Garcia was scheduled to see action on February 10, with a move to junior welterweight to challenge IBF champion Sergey Lipinets (13-0, 10 KOs). But the champion suffered a hand injury in training and the contest was recently rescheduled to March 10th in San Antonio, Texas.
According to Garcia, win or lose he intends to return to the lightweight limit to pursue the biggest names in the division.
The injury to Lipinets took Garcia by surprise, but he'll continue training hard to maintain the sheen on his lean frame. He also confirmed he's ready to fight the best, including two-time Olympic gold medal winner Vasyl Lomachenko.
However, more pressing is the goal to fight WBA lightweight champion Jorge Linares (43-3, 27 KOs) - who also has the status of being the mandatory challenger to Garcia's world title.
At last year's annual convention, the WBC ordered Garcia and Linares to fight each other. Linares became the mandatory challenger, because he holds the WBC's Diamond title at 135-pounds.
"Throughout my career I have been characterized and defined by facing the best. I want to make it clear that I am ready for those who want to fight me," Garcia said.
"I know that the public wants to see me against Linares and I want the same thing. I'm determined to show that I am better than Jorge. So I hope to hear soon from his team, because for the WBC this is a mandatory fight."
Linares is back in action on Saturday night, when he makes a voluntary defense against the Freddie Roach trained Mercito Gesta in an HBO televised fight from Los Angeles.
