Mikey Garcia can see himself pursuing a title at 147 or 140
Mikey Garcia seemed to have been steadfast in his pursuit of a major title at 147 pounds, which would make him a five-division champion. However, the smallish welterweight is open to fighting for another belt at 140.
That would mean a meeting with undisputed junior welterweight titleholder Josh Taylor, assuming he remains champion.
Garcia (40-1, 30 KOs) is scheduled to face Sando Martin (38-2, 13 KOs) at a catch weight of 145 on Saturday in Fresno, California (DAZN), his first fight in almost 600 days.
“If there’s a good fight at 147, with a big name or a belt, I’d love that,” said Garcia, who was shut out by welterweight titleholder Errol Spence Jr. in March 2019. “I think I am better built and more developed for welterweight now than I was the first time around.
Mikey Garcia (left) and Sandor Martin on Thursday faced off at a news conference to promote their welterweight fight on Saturday. Ed Mulholland/Matchroom.
“I don’t see myself at lightweight ever again, but I can see 140. There are some very good names at the weight. Josh Taylor is a great champion. And if some of the guys at 135 look to move up, there’s so many big fights at 140.
“I just have to keep winning. Victory on Saturday and then getting another win against someone like Regis [Prograis], I think that should create enough attention to land a fight with Taylor. He’s the undisputed champion, and that’s the biggest fight that I could engage in at the weight of course.”
The Los Angeles-area product seemed to be leading candidate to face Manny Pacquiao but that fight didn’t materialize. He then moved onto talks with Prograis, who has talked about moving up from 140 to 147. However, those talks also fizzled.
Garcia is coming off a convincing decision over Jessie Vargas at 147 in February of last year, although the winner weighed in at 145¾ — the heaviest of his career.
“I wanted to stay at 147 to look at fighting for a world welterweight title,” he said. “We had discussed the Prograis fight at welterweight as he was considering moving up to 147. And on Saturday we were looking to have the fight at 147, but Sandor has been at 140 so we agreed on a 145 catchweight, which I am not thrilled about but it’s OK.
“I’ve never stepped on the scales at 147, I’ve been 144 or 145, so it’s the same to me. I want to have both options available. If there’s a chance to fight for a belt at welterweight, I am ready, but 140 is a more ideal weight for me at my size and body structure, it’s a more comfortable weight for me.
“I understand the boxing business, so I was disappointed the Regis fight didn’t happen, but we move on. I hope that we can make that fight happen soon. If things go well on Saturday and I win without any injuries or cuts, I’d want to pursue that fight straight away.
“That is a fight I want, the fans and media want it, but the scheduling and the promotional time needed to build a fight like that just wasn’t there.”
