WBC Prez is Waiting For Mikey Garcia To Make His Decision

By Miguel Rivera

In the coming days, the World Boxing Council is hoping to receive a decision from Mikey Garcia (38-0, 30 KOs) to make up on his mind on what he intends to do in the near future.

Earlier this month, Garcia moved up to the junior welterweight division and won a twelve round decision over Sergey Lipinets to capture the IBF world title. The victory made Garcia a four division world champion.

At the same time, Garcia holds the WBC lightweight world title - but he's yet to make a defense of the belt he captured in January 2017 with a brutal knockout of Dejan Zlaticanin.

The WBC had ordered Garcia to make a mandatory defense against Jorge Linares.

The Venezuelan veteran holds the WBA's lightweight crown, but he also has the WBC's Diamond title - which grants him a mandatory shot at Garcia's belt.

But that contest fell apart last week, after Linares finalized a deal to defend his WBA belt against Vasyl Lomachenko on May 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

So that leaves Garcia without a mandatory challenger and it also leaves him without a lucrative opponent at 135-pounds.

"Mikey is our lightweight champion, he had 2 fights at super lightweight and he asked for the corresponding permits. The mandatory fight was left by Linares, so we'll see what happens in the coming days.. if Garcia returns [to 135-pounds] or if he decides to stay in another division and vacates the lightweight title," Sulaiman said to ESPN Deportes.

The main option for Garcia at 135 would be a unification with IBF champion Robert Easter, who was recently ordered to make a mandatory defense against Richard Commey in a rematch. The IBF does not allow step-aside agreements, but they do allow a champion to submit a petition to potemtially delay a mandatory if a unification fight comes up.