By Keith Idec
Mikey Garcia is still weighing his options, literally and figuratively.
The former four-division champion still hasn’t decided whether his next fight will be contested at welterweight, the division in which he suffered his first defeat March 16, or at junior welterweight. Garcia has been rumored to want to fight former WBC welterweight champ Danny Garcia next, but Mikey Garcia told ESPN’s Bernardo Osuna during a televised interview Friday night that he hasn’t decided what’s next.
“Look, we still don’t have anything lined up for me,” Garcia said. “I’m still looking at the options. You know, I haven’t decided whether I stay at 147 or come down to 140. So, I still wanna see what’s available. I hope that in the near future, you know, I’ll find out more about my future. But I do look forward to coming back before the end of the year.”
The 31-year-old Garcia (39-1, 30 KOs), of Moreno Valley, California, moved up from the lightweight limit of 135 pounds to the welterweight maximum of 147 for his last fight. Errol Spence Jr. (25-0, 21 KOs), the IBF welterweight champion, was too big, too strong and too good for Garcia during that 12-round fight 3½ months ago and easily defeated Garcia by unanimous decision.
Adding muscle to take on Spence will prohibit Garcia from returning to lightweight for his next fight, which was why he gave up WBC lightweight crown he had owned since January 2017 and the IBF lightweight title he won from Robert Easter Jr. last July 28 in Los Angeles. Garcia hasn’t ruled out a return to lightweight at some point, however.
“I can’t do 135 in my first attempt back,” Garcia said. “You know, I put on enough weight and muscle being at 47 that I think it would be a difficult thing for me to come down to lightweight. But if I do come down to 40 first, then make that decision to come to 35, that’s a possibility. But for my immediate future, I won’t be able to do 135. Maybe 140 first, and then 35.”
Robert Garcia, Mikey’s older brother and trainer, mentioned recently that he’s still hopeful Mikey Garcia can face Vasiliy Lomachenko. Ukraine’s Lomachenko (13-1, 10 KOs) owns the WBA and WBO lightweight crowns and could capture the WBC belt Garcia once held if he defeats England’s Luke Campbell (20-2, 16 KOs) on August 31 at O2 Arena in London.
“Yeah, well, like I said, if we come down to 40, I’m available,” Mikey Garcia said of facing Lomachenko. “But right now, we’re looking at Jose Ramirez fighting [Maurice] Hooker as well [July 27]. You know, we obviously are with Ramirez. I heard that Vasiliy might jump up [to 140]. You know, maybe get him there. There’s a lot of options going around, a lot of names. You know, I, personally, would take on anybody that’s available, besides Ramirez, because he’s on our team. But I’m sure Ramirez is available to fight anybody as well.
“And if Loma wants to move up, I mean, then we can do something there at 140. It’s just so much more talent right now, building up, with all the new champions that are young and hungry, you know, willing to fight anybody. And that’s what we want. That’s what the fans wanna see.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.