Garcia drums up bid to forge Pacquiao fight

MANILA, Philippines – Mikey Garcia is banging the gong to forge a fight with Manny Pacquiao this year.

Will the eight-division world champion hear him out?

The answer hangs because of the worldwide COVID-19 scourge.

What’s certain is Garcia, a four-division world champion, is among the front runners in the race to become Pacquiao’s next opponent.

In recent foreign interviews, Garcia – his morale boosted by a unanimous decision win over former WBO welterweight champion Jessie Vargas – claimed Pacquiao doesn’t have the size to complicate matters the way Errol Spence did last year.

The 5-foot-10 Spence thoroughly dominated Garcia, handing the American of Mexican descent his first loss in his initial foray in the 147-pound division.

Against Pacquiao, however, Garcia feels he’ll be up to the challenge as they both came from lighter divisions and are both 5-foot-6.

Garcia, now 40-1 with 30 knockouts, is no stranger to Pacquiao’s speed and power, having served as sparring partner of the Filipino icon in his grudge fight with Erik Morales in 2006.

Pacquiao lost to Morales in their first battle in 2005 but stopped Morales in 10 rounds in their rematch and in 3 rounds in their decider.

According to Garcia, he was around 18 years old that time and acquitted himself in their sparring sessions which lasted up to 9 times in some instances.

Now 32 and also vastly experienced, Garcia said if the fight with Pacquiao pushes through, he’ll be applying the same style Juan Manuel Marquez applied against Pacquiao in their 4 bouts which ended with two wins, one loss, and one draw for the Fighting Senator.

Last month, promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing USA bared Pacquiao-Garcia is likely to happen in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with July as target date.

Unless the COVID-19 pandemic flattens out soon, Garcia’s dream will remain unfulfilled. – Rappler.com