SPORTS SHORTS 72: MIKEY GARCIA SAYS HE WILL BE FIGHTING MANNY PACQUIAO IN MAY
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 04 Mar 2021
The "now you hear it, now you don't" fight between Mikey Garcia and Manny Pacquiao is now again in the boxing headlines and waiting for official announcement to happen. That is as far as Garcia (40-1, 30 KOs) is concerned.
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As of now he is leading among the opponents of the eight-division champion Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs). The four-division champion Garcia, age 33 years of Oxnard, California, United States, is enthusiastic about his supposedly coming match with Pacquiao, age 42 years, Kibawe, Bukidnon born boxer, now senator of the Philippines.
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“We’re finalizing all of the details. We hope to get the exact date and location in the next few days. We’re trying to get everything done for May,” Garcia told Jo Ankier in a chat after Canelo Alvarez’s victory over Avni Yildirim on Saturday.
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Garcia said that the fight has been in the works for a long time, with more details last year. The last few weeks the parties are getting very close to working on the deal and finalizing it. "I’m pretty excited. We’ll have all of the details set in the next few days. It’s a matter of time. So far, it seems like all of the parties are on board," added Mikey.
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Garcia has long been a leading candidate to fight Pacquiao. Both fighters have also released individual video footage of themselves recently training. Mikey claims the fight would have happened last year, but COVID-19 prevented it.
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“It’s a great fight. I think it’s great for my career, and for the fans. It’s very exciting for boxing in general to see this type of fight,” said Garcia as quoted by Boxing Scene. “We’ve been working on this for years. We were almost ready for this before COVID-19 happened. Now it seems like things are back on track."
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Garcia stated that to share the ring with a living legend like Manny does amazing things for his career. He just hope that the fans appreciate this by watching it on pay-per-view. "It’s not very often that you see two of the greatest fighters face each other. Right now, that’s what we’re about to do. I’m about to face a legend," continued Garcia.
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A venue in the Middle East is interested to pay a huge site fee to host the event. If the fight date is slated in May, scheduling it on a viable Saturday without contention could pose a problem. Canelo Alvarez is going to fight Billy Joe Saunders on May 8 over DAZN.
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The WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF unification fight between super lightweights Jose Ramirez and Josh Taylor is set on May 22 for ESPN. That would make May 1 and May 15 as the two possible dates without big competitors. May 29 is part of Memorial Day weekend, a holiday often skipped by boxing promoters.
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Triller promoter Ryan Kavanaugh also said that he plans on setting the Teofimo Lopez Jr. versus George Kambosos Jr. match also in May.
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Big names such as WBO welterweight titlist Terence Crawford, WBC and IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr., and WBC interim lightweight king Ryan Garcia, have all claimed that a showdown with Pacquiao was placed on their agenda.
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But none of these fighters could say with any confidence as Mikey Garcia that they were very near of finalizing a deal of facing the future Hall of Famer.
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Pacquiao’s old promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank announced a few weeks ago that there was a possibility of a fight between Pacman and Crawford. But now Arum has been silent about it, which means the fight is not going to take place.
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Miguel Angel "Mikey" Garcia held multiple world championships in four weight classes, including the lineal junior welterweight title, the WBO and Ring magazine featherweight titles, the WBO junior lightweight title, the WBC and IBF lightweight titles, and the IBF junior welterweight title.
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He has also challenged for the IBF welterweight title but lost to Errol Spence Jr. by unanimous decision on March 16, 2019 at the AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas. It was his only professional loss.
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Nikola Jokic recorded his 50th career triple-double with 37 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds to help the Denver Nuggets defeat the Milwaukee Bucks, 128-97 on Tuesday.
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It was Jokic's ninth triple-double of the season. The other night he had 39 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists in winning against the Chicago Bulls as Denver captured its third win in a row to start a five-game road trip.
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The Japanese government is planning to prevent overseas spectators from coming to the Summer Olympics for fear they will spread the coronavirus, a report said on Wednesday, as many Japanese citizens remain opposed to holding the Games during these pandemic times.
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The final decision would be made this month after a meeting with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and other concerned parties, the Mainichi newspaper reported.
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A Yomiuri newspaper poll was published on Wednesday showing that if the Games are to proceed as scheduled, 91% of the people in Japan want spectators kept to a minimum or not allowed at all.
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The poll, which was conducted between Jan. 18 and Feb. 25, showed 70% of the respondents were interested in the Olympics, but 58% said they did not want them to be held this year because of fears over the COVID-19 pandemic.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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