Mikey Garcia Will Be 'The Man', If He Beats Spence Jr.
By Ralph Rimpell
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 10 Aug 2018
Somewhere in some office at the Showtime network, executives are no doubt salivating at the prospect of matching 4 division champion and newly unified WBC/IBF lightweight (135lbs) champion Mikey Garcia (39-0, 30KOs) against IBF welterweight (147lbs) king Errol Spence, Jr. (24-0, 21KOs).
Prior to his last match with now former champion Robert Easter Jr., Garcia stated he wanted to fight Errol Spence Jr. This came as a major surprise because some in the boxing media presumed Garcia would stay at 135lbs. After he won the IBF 140lbs title from Sergey Lipinets instead of staying at 140lbs or moving up to 147lbs he moved back down to 135lbs.
After the fight with Easter at 135lbs, Garcia again reiterated he wants his next fight to be against Errol Spence Jr. There are no reports of the proposed fight being at a Catchweight**. Just as Spence was figuring who his next opponent would be, he need not look any further. Garcia-Spence is definitely a PPV (Pay Per View) fight that will no doubt do very well because Garcia has already won 5 world titles in 4 weight classes, has an undefeated record, boxing ability, and his Latin heritage (Mexican-American) will sell to mainstream Latinos.
The current two best welterweights (147lbs) in the world are Spence and Terrence Crawford the WBO champion. Garcia would be moving up to challenge a dangerous opponent in Spence. Reports out Garcia is physically able to move up to welterweight and used to spar with former welterweight champion Marcos Maidana* (a big welterweight) and did well.
Garcia moving up to challenge Spence is reminiscent of Undisputed Light heavyweight King Michael Spinks daring to challenge the then 48-0 Heavyweight champion Larry Holmes in 1985, who was considered the best heavyweight out of the three reigning champions at the time. Spinks earned a decision victory over Holmes and ruined Holmes? dream of matching Rocky Marciano?s 49-0 record.
Garcia?s Mexican roots will allow him to tap into the US Latin demographics market and the mainstream of fight fans that generated millions for De La Hoya, Vargas, Trinidad, Marquez, and now Canelo.
After 12 years as a professional (excluding the time off due to promotional issues) and multiple world titles; the time is now. One can?t be too critical for what Garcia is trying to accomplish. Garcia should fight Lomanchenko as some have suggested. However, is a Vasyl Lomanchenko unification bout going to materialize? Is there more money in a fight between Lomanchenko or Spence?
Is Spence willing and available to fight Garcia? No doubt Spence is willing to fight Garcia and a fight would likely generate more revenue. Spence has been a professional 6 years and is no doubt looking for big fights.
In reference to Garcia fighting Spence, a former welterweight champion stated ?Garcia may see something? which leads him to believe he can defeat Spence. Perhaps Garcia does see something. Many don?t think Garcia has a chance of defeating Spence including Spence himself, should they fight.
Many doubted Michael Spinks could defeat Larry Holmes, which Spinks did. Spinks became ?the man who beat the man? and was regarded as the linear Heavyweight champion until a young and in his prime Mike Tyson took the title from him. Should Garcia fight and defeat Spence, Garcia will be ?The Man? above all others in the 147lbs until someone beats him and he will join the other PPV kings in generating money.
*Maidana not only gave Adrian Broner his first loss, but also took Broner?s WBA welterweight title. Then Maidana fought and loss to Mayweather Jr. in consecutive fights.
**Asking a fighter in a heavier division to drop weight in order to secure the fight. Ex. A fighter fights at middleweight (160lbs) and the other fighter at light heavyweight (175lbs). The smaller fighter says, ?I will only agree to the fight if you weigh no heavier then 170lbs or I won?t fight you?.
Boxing Notes: Last Saturday a Star was born when Eleider Alvarez impressively stopped Sergey Kovalev in the 7th! This writer disagrees with Kovalev being described as a ?shot fighter? or ?was not that good.? Alvarez was simply just tougher and better than Kovalev. Alvarez would likely beat Kovalev again if Kovalev wants a rematch. However, Kovalev is capable of beating any of the three other light heavy champs (Stevenson - WBC, Bivol - WBA, or Beterbiev - IBF).
In regards to the split decision loss of former welterweight champion Devon Alexander to Andre Berto, It might not be a bad idea for Devon to take a page from former IBF lightheavy weight champion Glen ?The Road Warrior? Johnson. Johnson lost a lot of close decisions he thought should?ve went his way, but he kept fighting. Alexander should hold is head high like Johnson did and continue fighting and eventually he will come out on top.
Finally, on a different note Boxing fans that watch the hit show ?Power? on the Starz Network. The show?s story line are ?hotter? and more interesting than ever in its fifth season. At the ending of episode 6 of a scheduled 10 episodes, Tasha apparently leaves ?Ghost? for good, Angela?s colleagues are secretly trying to tie her to criminal activity, Tommy?s Dad ?Made Man? Tony Teresi not considering himself a ?rat? because he is informing on his son and not his Mafia family, Teresi?s best friend in the Mafia knows he?s working with the Feds and continues to associate with him. Dre and Ghost making peace to help each other out, Tarik turns back to criminal activity, and Kanan is his usual ?snake in grass? self, and much, much, more. WOW!
Contact Writer: RLuvsboxing@aol.com
***Ralph Rimpell is a writer based out of New York and is a Boxing Correspondent for Philboxing.com. Ralph holds an undergraduate degree from City University of New York. He has been a Boxing Writer for over ten years having written for several top boxing websites on the World Wide Web. Before becoming a writer, Ralph's passion was for professional wrestling until he realized professional wrestling was entertainment and not a real sport. It was at that time the 1984 US Olympic team made up of future stars such as Evander Holyfield, Meldrick Taylor, Pernell Whitaker, etc. entered the professional ranks and signed with promotional outfit Main Events.It was also at that time a young exciting Heavyweight originally hailing from Brooklyn named Mike Tyson also turned professional and became the face of boxing. Young boxing fan Ralph just couldn't get enough of boxing as a large part of it was being broadcast on "free TV". As time went on, Ralph felt boxing writers were not being forthcoming with their boxing coverage, opinion pieces, interviews, etc. So Ralph decided to write an article and submitted it to a Boxing website thinking it would be deleted and ignored by the Editor. To Ralph's surprise his article was posted on their website and the readers embraced it. The rest is history.
"I thank God for the Internet because it has created opportunities for writers like myself who likely would not have been given an opportunity to write for print publications. I hope someday soon to expand my role in Boxing on different levels." -- Ralph Rimpell
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ralph Rimpell.
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