By Edward Chaykovsky
Robert Garcia, brother and head trainer of WBC lightweight champion Mikey Garcia (36-0, 30 KOs), says his boxer wants the biggest fights possible in 2017.
This past Saturday night, Mikey secured a brutal three round knockout of undefeated Dejan Zlaticanin at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. An uppercut followed by a crushing hook sent Zlaticanin down and completely out cold.
The knockout created a tense moment, as it took at least a minute for the ringside doctors to revive Zlaticanin and get him to sit on a stool.
What was more remarkable was that last Saturday's fight was only the second fight for Mikey since snapping more than a 2 year layoff last July. Now he wants to unify the titles at 135-pounds and he's even willing to face WBO super featherweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko - if Loma comes up to 135.
"Mikey wants the big fights and now in this stage of Mikey’s life and career, he has goals and plans. He wants nothing but big fights and if big fights are available at 135lbs against Flanagan or Linares, Mikey is more than happy to take those challenges because that’s what he wants," Robert Garcia told On The Ropes Boxing Radio.
"People have even mentioned Lomachenko, and while Lomachenko is a good friend of mine, if he decides to move up in weight, Mikey is more than welcome to give him an opportunity. If there are none of those challenges, then Mikey is going to move up to 140lbs and challenge the big names at 140lbs."
As Robert stated, if they don't get a big fight at 135 - then a move to the junior welterweight division is in their plans - and WBO/WBC champion Terence Crawford is on their radar. Crawford defeats Mikey in the amateurs, and it was Mikey who advised former promoter Top Rank to sign Crawford up.
"Those are all the fights that Mikey wants. Like I told you, Mikey wants to make history, he wants to make a statement. Now that he came back, he wants to fight the best and yes Terence Crawford is one that Mikey knows that he could fight and it would be a huge fight for both of them, so definitely those are the types of fights that Mikey wants," Robert said.
