Fight with Pacquiao slated in May – Mikey Garcia

Breaking his silence, Mikey Garcia claimed he and Manny Pacquiao will be fighting in May.

Relegated to the background following Pacquiao’s demand for a $50 million total purse to tangle with Terence Crawford, Garcia reassumed the lead role after Top Rank big boss Bob Arum apparently failed to to secure the funding.

“We’re finalizing all the details, but we hope to get the date exact in the next few days, get an exact date, location, and everything,” Garcia told sports journalist Jo Ankier hours after Canelo Alvarez’s three-round demolition of challenger Avni Yildirim over the weekend.

“We’re trying to get everything done for May,” added Garcia. “It’s been in the works for a long time for the last few years, but particularly more details in the last year right before COVID happened.

“But now, in the last few weeks of the month or so, we’ve been getting very close to working on this and finalizing this,” said Garcia, a four-division world champion who was also sidetracked by Ryan Garcia’s insistence that a fight between him and Pacquiao is in the works.

Ryan has since given up on his bid to share the ring with the eight-division champion. (READ: Ryan Garcia gives up Pacquiao dream fight)

Arum, meanwhile, has clammed up about the fight between Pacquiao, his former cash cow, and Crawford, the unbeaten World Boxing Association champion who took over as Top Rank’s banner carrier.

Mikey and Pacquiao have a planned fight last year, but it got shelved following the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Now, it seems like things are back on track. Just to share the ring with a legend like Manny, it does amazing things for my career,” said the 33-year-old Mikey, who totes a 40-1 record with 30 knockouts.

“I just really hope that the fans appreciate this because it’s not very often you see two of the greatest fighters face each other.”

Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 knockouts) announced last month that he is going back to training for an impending fight without naming his opponent.

In his last fight on February 29, 2020, Mikey dropped Jessie Vargas once to earn a unanimous decision, just like what Pacquiao did in 2016.

Pacquiao hasn’t fought since he dealt Keith Thurman a first defeat on July 20, 2019, and at 42, may need a longer time to shake off ring rust.

No wonder, he has instructed local trainers Buboy Fernandez and Nonoy Neri to report for work by mid-March. – Rappler.com