ONTARIO, CALIF. — In an interview with the So Cal Boxing Report radio show, WBC lightweight world champion Mikey Garcia said he wants a bout with Errol Spence Jr. at 147 pounds at the end of this year.
Garcia, 30, gave the interview at the Last Round Bar and Grill in Ontario, California, the day after Spence retained his IBF world title in a stoppage of Lamont Peterson in Brooklyn. Garcia added that he’d like to take care of Sergey Lipinets on March 10, and fight in a unification matchup against Jorge Linares (43-3, 27 KOs) in the summer before stepping into the squared circle with Spence.
“How about this — I take on Lipinets right now, alright?” Garcia said in response to his plans this year. “Then I take Linares and then at the end of the year we take Spence. How about that?”
The three-division world champion Garcia said that he was watching Spence’s (23-0, 20 KOs) most recent win against Peterson and told his brother and trainer, Robert [Garcia], that he feels he could handle that potential bout and pull off the victory. A fight with Spence would be a significant step up for Garcia — who has not fought above 140 pounds. However, Garcia did just recently defeat Adrien Broner — who was seen as a strong, big welterweight and a solid test for lightweight world champion Garcia.
Errol Spence Jr. poses with his IBF welterweight world title after his win over Lamont Peterson this past Saturday in Brooklyn. Photo: Amanda Westcott/SHOWTIME
Spence is eyeing a unification fight with WBA and WBC welterweight world title holder Keith Thurman, who is coming off elbow surgery and hasn’t fought since early 2017 when he defeated Danny Garcia in the last welterweight unification matchup. Spence has shown his willingness to fight the best in the sport, as he displayed in his win over Kell Brook in England last year. With Thurman likely to have a tuneup fight or some sort before fighting another world champion, Spence could find himself in the unifcation event toward the end of 2018. This could possibly alter the plans of a Garcia showdown, however, assuming a Thurman (28-0, 22 KOs) bout doesn’t come to fruition this year, a fight with Garcia could be more of possibility.
“I believe in myself so much because I know what I’m capable of doing,” Garcia said in response to competing with Spence. “My brother [Robert] believes in me because he sees me everyday; my dad sees, my team members see me. The average people have only probably seen me ten times because they haven’t followed me enough in my career, and the only times that they see me is the times that I fight. And even in those fights, I don’t show everything that I can do. But, we know that I’m a lot more than what people have seen and that’s why I believe I can do very well against him [Spence] and I can beat him.”
Garcia, 30, gave the interview at the Last Round Bar and Grill in Ontario, California, the day after Spence retained his IBF world title in a stoppage of Lamont Peterson in Brooklyn. Garcia added that he’d like to take care of Sergey Lipinets on March 10, and fight in a unification matchup against Jorge Linares (43-3, 27 KOs) in the summer before stepping into the squared circle with Spence.
“How about this — I take on Lipinets right now, alright?” Garcia said in response to his plans this year. “Then I take Linares and then at the end of the year we take Spence. How about that?”
The three-division world champion Garcia said that he was watching Spence’s (23-0, 20 KOs) most recent win against Peterson and told his brother and trainer, Robert [Garcia], that he feels he could handle that potential bout and pull off the victory. A fight with Spence would be a significant step up for Garcia — who has not fought above 140 pounds. However, Garcia did just recently defeat Adrien Broner — who was seen as a strong, big welterweight and a solid test for lightweight world champion Garcia.
Errol Spence Jr. poses with his IBF welterweight world title after his win over Lamont Peterson this past Saturday in Brooklyn. Photo: Amanda Westcott/SHOWTIME
Spence is eyeing a unification fight with WBA and WBC welterweight world title holder Keith Thurman, who is coming off elbow surgery and hasn’t fought since early 2017 when he defeated Danny Garcia in the last welterweight unification matchup. Spence has shown his willingness to fight the best in the sport, as he displayed in his win over Kell Brook in England last year. With Thurman likely to have a tuneup fight or some sort before fighting another world champion, Spence could find himself in the unifcation event toward the end of 2018. This could possibly alter the plans of a Garcia showdown, however, assuming a Thurman (28-0, 22 KOs) bout doesn’t come to fruition this year, a fight with Garcia could be more of possibility.
“I believe in myself so much because I know what I’m capable of doing,” Garcia said in response to competing with Spence. “My brother [Robert] believes in me because he sees me everyday; my dad sees, my team members see me. The average people have only probably seen me ten times because they haven’t followed me enough in my career, and the only times that they see me is the times that I fight. And even in those fights, I don’t show everything that I can do. But, we know that I’m a lot more than what people have seen and that’s why I believe I can do very well against him [Spence] and I can beat him.”
