Garcia believes he’ll take on Pacquiao in 2020
Mikey Garcia is set to make his Matchroom Boxing debut Jessie Vargas on February 29th at the Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Texas. While that contest is looming ahead, Garcia has a vision that involves taking on Manny Pacquiao.
“There’s a lot of buzz going around on a potential Manny Pacquiao fight. It’s a fight that’s been brought up for years. Now it’s starting to pick up a lot of steam,” Garcia told BoxingScene.com. “He has obligations in the Philippines government, and I wanted to get a return fight [after losing to Errol Spence Jr]. I don’t know if he will be available or not, but I think the second half of 2020 might be ready for both of us to get in the ring. Maybe he gets something before that. By then, I’ll be ready to get back in the ring. I didn’t want to just wait. If I look forward to bigger fights, than the biggest fight for me is Manny Pacquiao.”
View this post on Instagram#GarciaVargas live on @dazn_usa Feb 29 from Ford Center Dallas! ???? #aTumbarCabezas
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A match up between Garcia and Pacquiao was supposed to shape up while they were both under the Top Rank banner. What happened instead was Garcia getting into litigation with Bob Arum and Pacquiao leaving himself in 2018. Garcia stated that it was one of the idea being floated around when they were both signed at the time.
“When we were both at Top Rank, they brought up the idea of possibly getting in the ring with Manny. I loved the idea, but it never really happened. My litigation of Top Rank put all those plans to the side,” said Garcia. “The idea was for me to win the Spence fight in March and land Manny next, but it didn’t go my way. Maybe I have to take another fight or two before that. If that option is available in the near future, I’m definitely going to take that fight.”
On thing that the Boxingscene article mentioned that if the fight were to take place under the Matchroom Boxing banner, Garcia’s current promoter, company head Eddie Hearn said that Saudi Arabia would put up the money to stage the fight. Garcia is a fight by fight deal and like anyone within a few weight classes of the future Hall of Famer Pacquiao, wants a crack at him. Time will tell if Manny takes up this offer after his year.
Marquis Johns is a unknown humorist and avid boxing fan. His love for the sweet science goes back to when matches were 15 rounds and has been covering fights since closed-circuit pay-per-views. Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth is not only a quote by Mike Tyson, it's also a pretty good reminder to keep your guard up.
