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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Boxing devider Mikey Garcia eyes Pacquiao in boxing return

Mikey Garcia eyes Pacquiao in boxing return

Published Feb 14, 2021 03:59 pm
manny pacquiao mikey garcia
THE TIME IS NOW - Mikey Garcia, left, eyes to square off with Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao in early summer. (AFP / File Photo)

Another American boxer who goes by the surname Garcia jumped into the long list of possible opponents for the Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao.

Mikey Garcia, who fights in the welterweight division, hopes to square off with Pacquiao soon, joining a number of top boxers in the supposed waiting list of the eight-division world champion.

"I would love, I would love to fight Manny," Garcia told FightHype.com in a YouTube video posted Thursday, Feb. 11.

Garcia shared that he had heard the likes of Ryan Garcia, the undefeated interim WBC lightweight champion, and UFC veteran Conor McGregor were among the fighters who expressed interest in clashing with Pacquiao.

But the older Garcia, 33, doesn't plan to wait that long and believes that he's the "real fighter" fit for Pacquiao, who recently got strip of his WBA super welterweight belt.

"I don't know what his plan is. If Manny decides to take on something like that, so be it. I'll move on for something else. I'm not gonna sit around and wait and wait and wait y'know," said Garcia, who holds a 40-1 record with 30 knockouts.

"But if Manny's available and he wants to get in the ring with a real fighter and have a real challenge and have a real fight for the fans and everybody, then I'm in. There's nobody that's accomplished enough like to be at that spotlight, to be in the position like I have," he added, hoping to make a comeback in early summer.

Aside from Ryan Garcia and McGregor, the names Terence Crawford, the WBO welterweight king, and Errol Spence Jr., the unified IBF and WBC champion, also ring a bell in the headlines.

Mikey Garcia is confident that a fight with Pacquiao (62-7-2) would bring delight to the fans and the boxing realm, recalling that they have been the talk of the town over the past few years.

"We've talked about it for the last six years, last seven years. All these conversations about a possible fight between Manny and me sometime in the future, well here it is. We are in the future now. The time is now," said the Californian-native fighter, who last saw action in February last year, winning via unanimous decision against Pacquiao's former opponent Jessie Vargas.

Garcia suffered the first loss of his career at the hands of Spence after making a bold decision to move up two weight classes and challenge the latter for the IBF belt while Pacquiao has not fought since beating American Keith Thurman in July 2019.

Despite the outright challenge, Garcia has nothing but respect for  Pacquiao, who earlier announced through social media that "training camp has begun" and is about to drop a "big news" soon.

"I think Manny Pacquiao is a great, great fighter, he's a legend. And if I were to get in the ring with him, I would everything I can to put on the best performance, fight the best, fight the hardest. That's what I'm about." 

Related Tags

Terence Crawford Mikey Garcia Errol Spence Jr. Ryan Garcia Manny Pacquiao
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