Comments Thread For: Mikey Garcia Wants to Remain Free Agent for Big Fights

[Deevel916]

I can understand that stance if Mikey was a ppv star but he's not. In that case you can have several promoters bid for you on a per fight basis.

[SteveM]

Hate to burst your bubble Dunn but no one is jumping in line to fight Robert Easter.

it doesn't count as a 'big' fight for Mikey - or any other as you say. Easter is high risk and double low reward - low reward financially, low reward for reputation

Assuming Pac still looks good that could be a great fight and Pac can push back against Arum more than Crawford

[bigdunny1]

Right now according to him he is not signed to anyone including Haymon. But he has been working with Haymon since he got out his contract with Top Rank I guess on 1 fight deals. It sounds good saying stay free agent but the reason you sign with a promoter or adviser is to jump the line and get fights against other guys with that promoter/adviser. The reason guys sign with Haymon is so they can get a title shot or big fights against other Haymon guys. None of these guys Golden Boy, Top Rank and including Haymon are really making fights with each other unless they are mandated and forced to. OR they have the prohibited favorite and the other guys is just sacrificing a guy they don't have much riding on.

[SteveM]

True, but I think he and Mikey unify after the Broner fight win or lose. Mikey said he's going back to 135 and that is the next logical fight assuming Easter beats Shafikov.

Then the winner fights Linares..

no, the logical move is to just jump straight to linares while he still has high value/reputation

[bigdunny1]

Good luck Mikey! Stay free as long as you can! But if you have to choose one, I say go with Schaefer! So far Mikey has gotten a title shot and a fight with Broner without a promoter. NOT BAD!

Schaefer has nothing to offer a guy like Mikey. He has NOBODY under his roster which is the only reason Mikey would sign with a promoter to gain access to fighters. Schaefer has a couple amateurs who he just signed who are all years away from any relevant fights and has only promoted 2 events the entire year with nothing scheduled right now for the summer. Based on the info we have he is not involved at all with the Broner fight. And only promoted Mikey's last fight because Haymon said so. Haymon got him the fight, the network to air it and Haymon has all the fighters. Why have a middle man when he can just sign with Haymon stay free agent and fight all the guys in Haymon's stable. If he signs with a promoter it's to gain access to fights against guys who are not signed with Haymon.

[Edward90]

To some level, he is right. If a fighter has a big enough name, they don't need to be married to a specific promoter. Fan demand and the almighty dollar will get him more opportunities. I like the idea of boxers working with multiple promoters and striking the best deals for them. With a Broner win, Mikey definitely makes more of a name for himself. Luckily, there are a lot of fighters managed by Al Haymon, so he may have a decent pool of fighters with this mentality... He will have to move up to maximize that though...

[boxingitis]

Promoters need to work with each other, other wise they will have mediocre fights and will not he televise by HBO(Arum). Its HBO responsibility to take good fights and not mismatches if they want to keep their customers. Simple make good fights that are close to 50/50 and people will watch, be it in house or with other promoters.

[The Big Dunn]

no, the logical move is to just jump straight to linares while he still has high value/reputation

If the Broner fight was at 135 then I'd agree with you because you want to fight progressively better opponents. Since he would be coming down from 14, I think they will do Easter to see how he does back at the weight then do Linares.

[iamboxing]

Promoters like to keep things "in house". I think Garcia may find himself on the outside looking in. No way he gets a fight with an Arum fighter. Maybe Haymon is trying to lure him with the Broner fight. For some reason, I thought Garcia was affiliated with Richard Schaeffer.

This. It's commendable, but naive.

[bigdunny1]

I can understand that stance if Mikey was a ppv star but he's not. In that case you can have several promoters bid for you on a per fight basis.

Exactly. Mikey is in a tough spot because he's not a huge star his last 2 fights were undercard fights where he didn't make much money and they didn't draw huge ratings. Haymon is loaded at 126 and 147. But in between Haymon is light. All the best and biggest names at and around Mikey's weight are associated with Golden Boy and Top Rank. The fight Mikey clearly wants the most is Linares but he's got 2 belts (WBC Diamond, WBA) with 2 different mandatories. If he's granted a optional defense, if he makes the WBA defense, or if he decides to unify a 3rd belt all this delays when Mikey can get a shot at Linares. If he signs with Golden Boy the red sea will part and he will immediately jump to first in line and get that fight. Why would Golden Boy make that fight earlier then they have to when Mikey can beat their fighter? Same applies to Top Rank guys. If Mikey brought so much money then maybe but unless he gives a promoter future fights I don't see the incentive.