TAKING THE RISK
Mikey Garcia tells Chris Walker exactly why Errol Spence is not the giant leap that so many are talking about
An exclusive interview with Garcia after he leaps up two divisions for Spence
MIKEY GARCIA is happy to talk on his afternoon commute home from another strenuous gym session under the tutelage of his elder brother, and ex-fighter, Robert. But there is one condition. For the last three months, Garcia’s lengthy conversations with various boxing media have centred on size and weight. Whether directing his words towards a dictaphone or camera lens, Garcia has been unable to escape the principal talking point surrounding this Saturday’s IBF welterweight title showdown with the outstanding Errol Spence Jnr, but he informs Boxing News it’s a topic he’d like to avoid for the remainder of his journey.
“I’m fed up of talking about the weight difference,” sighs Garcia with a tone that underlines his statement. His leap to 147lbs could, depending on your view of his chances, be the jump of a generation as Garcia seeks to emulate recent epic achievements like Roy Jones dethroning John Ruiz at WBA heavyweight, and Bernard Hopkins making a mockery of Antonio Tarver’s supposed advantages at 175lbs. Garcia is facing odds more daunting than the aforementioned fighters due to Spence’s current standing as one of boxing’s finest competitors, but the four-weight world titlist’s thirst for such a challenge is what prompted him to fix his aim on the undefeated star.
Capable of pursuing a number of opponents from 135lbs all the way up to the division in which he will face Spence, Garcia has perhaps gone for the biggest and most dangerous of all. Temporarily resisting the threats posed by the likes of Vasyl Lomachenko, Gervonta Davis, and Regis Prograis, Garcia has identified Spence as the most hazardous risk, but with such danger comes the potential of greatness, a frequent theme associated with Garcia’s career.
“I want to be the best fighter on the planet,” he declares. “The pound-for-pound number one. I want people to talk about the things that I did inside a boxing ring long after my career is over. Taking on Errol Spence, a fighter who has been avoided by other guys, and a fighter who would definitely do well at 154lbs, gives me the chance to get everything I’ve ever wanted in one night. This isn’t about money or world titles, I’ve had all of that, but this is the night when everyone has to recognise me as the best fighter that’s out there today.”
Garcia’s quest for universal approval has long been a theme. His ascent to stardom was showered with championship belts, but the desire to be the best was intensified when Garcia’s quarrel with former paymasters Top Rank spiralled out of control in 2014 and remained fraught for two years. Bursting into the consciousness of boxing fans throughout America with resounding stoppage wins over Juan Manuel Lopez and Roman Martinez, Garcia’s rapid momentum was emphatically derailed, the courtroom replacing the gym as Mikey’s home away from home.
Unable to bolster his record or profile due to his sustained absence from a sport to which he has committed his entire life, Garcia, although angry and frustrated, refused to let legal shenanigans ³
disrupt his grand scheme of dominating boxing. Resisting the urge to consider an alternative vocation, Garcia, supported by his immediate family, placed all his faith in himself and the justice system, while still attending gruelling training days overseen by his brother. Garcia was finally allowed to resume his career in 2016 and, with a chunk of his prime stolen from him, he had no time to waste. It wasn’t long before the familiar bright lights were once again shining directly on him.
“The years that I was out did nothing but motivate me to be even better,” he reveals. “No one was going to stop me from being what I was always meant to be and that’s the best boxer alive. Every single day I was thinking about making my comeback and I’d be plotting different routes to the top because I knew that if I was going to start boxing again then I would have to repay the faith of so many people who stood by me when things weren’t going so well. I always thought that I would be given a chance to box again, but you can never be certain. There’s no way I’m going to blow such an opportunity because I feel like I’m overdue it anyway.”
Since resurfacing from his enforced hiatus, Garcia has largely enjoyed one-sided victories over the likes of Sergey Lipinets and Robert Easter. A brief flirtation with a welterweight came in the shape of Adrien Broner when the pair engaged in a catchweight battle at 144lbs. Garcia handled the occasion masterfully but Broner, despite his long list of world belts, possesses neither the body mass or talent boasted by the 2012 Olympian.
Spence, who turned professional following those London Games, was earmarked for success long before he cashed his first fight cheque. A product of a regimented Texan upbringing, Spence has largely had things his own way in a boxing ring ever since he first learned to fight.
Garcia has largely been impressed by what he has seen from his imminent rival but is insistent he has more than enough to neutralise an attack that 24 fighters before him failed to do.
“I’m the better fighter and that’s the reason why I’ll win,” declared Garcia. “I look at a fighter like Spence and see so many ways that I win. People picking him
are only saying so on size because they can’t say that he’s quicker than me, they can’t say he has a better boxing IQ, they can’t say he has a better defence. They all said that Broner being the bigger man would level things out against me and I hardly lost a round in that fight and I still had a lot left in me at the end. Unless Errol shows me something that I ain’t seen from him before then I don’t think there’s any way that he can beat me.”
Garcia is fully aware that he’s one win away from confirming himself as one of the fighters of his generation. In fact, should victory be he is, it would be hard to deny that he is the best fighter in boxing, full stop. Such grandeur is what he’s aiming for.
“It’s no good for me having a big payday now as I’ve done that,” he reflects. “I’ve won world title belts across four different weights. Titles and money are great when you haven’t had either, but for now, I just want to be recognised as the finest fighter on the planet. That’s all I’ve ever wanted and I believe that when I beat Errol Spence, there’s no way that anyone can say that I’m not the best fighter walking around today. It’s all about my legacy from this moment on.”
Spence’s legacy can be significantly enhanced by defeating a man who has looked nothing short of sensational in recent years, but does a win over Lomachenko trump the same result against Spence? Or does a return to lightweight even register with Garcia if he upsets Spence? With the likes of Terence Crawford, Manny Pacquiao, and Shawn Porter also operating at 147lbs, will Garcia finally settle in a weight class rather than throwing himself up and down like a yo-yo?
“There’s a fight that I need to get out the way first before I make any decision like that,” he says. “There was never any big plan to one day be a welterweight, but boxing isn’t really a sport where you can plan five or 10 years down the line. There’s no way I can get back down to super-feather and welter is definitely my limit in the other direction. We’ll see, but after Saturday night, anyone from lightweight to welterweight better be watching their back.”