Tag: PBC

Frustrated Terence Crawford lashes out at Errol Spence Jr.

Terence Crawford, apparently fed up, called out Errol Spence on social media on Sunday, accusing him of ducking a fight.

Welterweight titleholder Terence Crawford appears to have least one New Year’s resolution: tweet more often. That is, tweet more often at division rival Errol Spence Jr.

The Omaha, Nebraska native unleashed a slew of fiery tweets directed at Spence on Sunday night, apparently in response to a tweet that Spence posted earlier about his willingness to fight anyone in the weight class.

Crawford flexed his fingers and responded in kind.

“So what’s been the hold up homie?” Crawford wrote. “When I came to the division y’all all said I had to get a title first. Now you changed yo mind and talking about wrong side of the street. So I’m just here for another excuse what’s up.”

A Spence-Crawford unification fight is one of the best possible matchups in the sport. But efforts to make it are borderline nonexistent because both fighters are aligned with rival entities. Bob Arum’s Top Rank, which promotes Crawford, generally doesn’t do business with Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions, which manages Spence. The Feb. 22 Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder fight is an exception.

The 32-year-old Crawford (36-0, 27 knockouts) is coming off an entertaining beat down of competent but unknown Egidijus Kavaliauskas on Dec. 14 in New York City. Spence (26-0, 21 KOs) is recovering from a car crash in October, in which he was ejected from his Lamborghini. He appeared to be in good health when he was interviewed during the Tony Harrison-Jermell Charlo card on Dec. 21. He said he would return to the ring in the summer. In his last fight, Spence outpointed Shawn Porter in a thrilling title-unification bout on Sept 28.

The promotional gridlock hurts Crawford more than it does Spence, 29. Therein lies the source of Crawford’s evident frustration. Crawford’s 2018 campaign was dogged by his inability to land a significant fight, as Top Rank simply does not have access to the best welterweights in the division. PBC, on the other hand, has a host of viable options for Spence to keep things in-house, including titleholder Manny Pacquiao and Danny Garcia. A Pacquiao-Spence fight, in particular, would do great business.

Crawford isn’t buying that as a legitimate argument. He accused Spence – and for that matter, every other PBC welterweight – of hiding behind their handlers. “… Stop using the f- promoters, managers and advisors for that weak ass excuse y’all doing they work for us y’all dumb mf if you really want a fight you tell them i don’t give two f—s that’s who I want to fight. let yo nuts drop you say you yo own boss…”

 

There is also the question of whether Spence will be ready to engage in a high-level bout anytime soon. If the plan is for Spence to take a tune-up and then aim for showdowns against Pacquiao and Garcia, it may be close to two years before a Crawford fight enters the realm of possibility.

In other words, brace yourselves for more tweets.

Gervonta Davis pours cold water over Vasiliy Lomachenko bout

Don’t get you hopes up for seeing a Gervonta Davis-Vasiliy Lomachenko lightweight fight anytime soon.

A lightweight bout between Gervonta Davis and Vasiliy Lomachenko could be one of the great matchups the sport has to offer.

But you may as well shut it out of your mind considering that Davis recently poured a bucket of icy cold water over the potential mega bout.

Davis made his feelings clear during a post-fight press conference on Saturday night after he knocked out Yuriorkis Gamboa in the 12th round at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta. He cited his ability to draw better at the gate and relative youth as reasons the fight isn’t a priority.

“I feel like no one is above me,” Davis responded when asked if he would pursue a fight with Lomachenko. “I’m the cash cow, I believe so, at 135, 130. I’m selling out [arenas] and putting butts in the seat, so. I don’t think he’s doing that. Line ’em up. I’m a fighter, willing to fight anybody.”

It was a disappointing and evasive response that seemed to reinforce the sport’s political division. Lomachenko is a flagship fighter under Top Rank, while Davis is aligned with Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions. Both entities have their own exclusive output deals, which makes cross-promotional fights that much harder to consummate.

No one is disputing that Davis is a budding star. The Baltimore native drew a reported 14,000 to the fight in Atlanta, a city deprived of significant boxing cards in recent years. He is clearly resonating with African-Americans, which apparently includes a number of noted denizens from the Hip Hop world. But Davis has yet to headline his own pay-per-view card. ( Leonard Ellerbe told reporters that they would seek to put Davis on that platform in 2020, presumably against Leo Santa Cruz). And while drawing upwards of 10,000 spectators to an arena is commendable these days, it is hardly jaw-dropping.

Davis continued: “I’m not trying to be cocky, but (fighters want to fight me because) it’s a big risk, but it’s also a big payday. (Lomachenko is) at the end of his career, I believe so. Well, he’s up in age, and he’s trying to make the biggest fights that he can make in a short period of time. Everybody has their different path. I’m only 25 year old. My stretch is a little longer than his, so we’re taking our time.”

The comments were in stark contrast to what Davis told TMZ this past summer when confronted with the same question. Would he welcome a fight with Lomachenko?

“I think I’m old enough to take on the challenge,” Davis said. “I have enough skills. I’m maturing as a fighter as a person. I think it’s time.

“… [Lomachenko-Davis is] probably one of the biggest fights. Me and [Lomachenko] or Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder, those are the two biggest fights we can make in boxing.”

Frank Warren says there will be a Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder III

Whatever the outcome for the Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder rematch on February 22, there will be a third fight, according to Frank Warren.

Whatever happens in the Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury rematch Feb. 22 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, you can count on a third fight.

So says Frank Warren, the co-promoter of Fury. He told the British outlet talkSPORT that the heavyweight rivals have already agreed to fight again in the summer.

“Tyson is going to be back in the ring with Wilder on February 22,” Warren said. “And they will fight again, irrespective of who wins, in the summer.

“So that, at the moment, is all tied up.”

The Feb. 22 rematch – on pay-per-view – will be a bi-partisan effort between rival companies Top Rank (which promotes Fury) and partner ESPN, and Premier Boxing Champions (Wilder) and Fox. Both networks are planning to market the fight heavily through their Super Bowl coverage.

The first fight took place on Dec. 1 of last year at Staples Center in Los Angeles and ended in a disputed draw. Although Wilder scored two knockdowns, many observers believed Fury had outboxed the hard-hitting Alabaman.

 

Terence Crawford vs. Shawn Porter will be made by fighters, not handlers

If a Terence Crawford vs Shawn Porter fight is ever made, it will be because both fighters asked for it.

Step aside, promoters.

If welterweights Terence Crawford and Shawn Porter ever share the same ring, it will be on their own accord, the two expressed recently. Not their promoters, managers and respective networks.

The sentiment was reiterated this past weekend, which saw titleholder Crawford dispatch Egidijus Kavaliauskas in the ninth round at Madison Square Garden.

After the fight, Crawford, whose recent career has been engulfed by concern over his inability to land meaningful fights, was asked about potentially meeting Porter, one of the top welterweights aligned with Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions.

“That’s not going to be up to Bob Arum, PBC or Al Haymon,” Crawford, 32, said. “That’s going to be up to us, if we are going to agree to the fight.”

Arum, Crawford’s promoter, echoed those thoughts.

“That’s up to Porter and Crawford,” Arum said. “If they want to fight each other, we’ll get it done.”

Financial requirements and network allegiances aside, Porter and Crawford are friendly with each other, which could only help get them over the finish line. In the wake of Errol Spence’s October car crash, talk of a Crawford-Spence showdown has subsided considerably. In the interim, Porter’s name has come up as an attractive alternative.

During an episode of Inside PBC Boxing that aired on Fox before Crawford’s fight, Porter made it clear the decision to fight Crawford will be made between them.

“I’ve said this before,” Porter said, “if Terence and I fight, it will be because we decided to fight.”

Good, bad, worse: Terence Crawford gave inspiring performance

Terence Crawford received more resistance than expected from Egidijus Kavaliauskas but responded like the champion he is.

GOOD

I’m sure there are people who believe Terence Crawford was exposed somehow in his title defense against Egidijus Kavaliauskas on Saturday night in New York. I don’t agree … at all. In fact, I think more of him now that I did before the fight.

So a good fighter (which is what Kavaliauskas is) landed some flush punches to Crawford’s face and body in the first half of the fight. So what? Fighters who take risks also take punches, even great fighters (which is what Crawford is). Crawford’s moments of vulnerability mean nothing to me.

And it’s not as if Crawford acted confused or disheartened when the clever Lithuanian had success. Instead, he got angry. He dug in, refusing to retreat, as if to say, “I’ll show you who the better man is,” and then did.

Crawford switched to an orthodox stance in the seventh round, which made it more difficult for Kavaliauskas to land his right. That was the turning point in the fight.

In the next two-plus rounds, Crawford, on fire with determination, put Kavaliauskas down three times – once in the seventh and two times in the ninth – and hurt him in the process. The referee saved the challenger from further punishment 44 seconds into Round 9.

Was it the most dominating performance ever? No. It was impressive, though. I loved Crawford’s reaction to Kavaliauskas’ success. I thought when it became clear that Crawford was trying to knockout his tormentor, “Those are the instincts of a champion.” And the way he finished off Kavaliauskas was breathtaking, both in its efficiency and thoroughness.

That’s what a great fighter does, battle fearlessly  through adversity and win in spectacular fashion.

 

BAD

Richard Commey fell into a desperate situation very quickly. Mikey Williams / Top Rank

I’m using the word “bad” here as something positive, as in Teofimo Lopez is a “bad” man.

The Honduran-American’s fight against lightweight titleholder Richard Commey on the Crawford-Kavaliauskas card was supposed to be a 50-50 proposition. Instead, it was a showcase for the next great star.

Lopez essentially ended the fight with a crushing right hand that put Commey down and left him discombobulated early in the second round. The Ghanian managed to get up but a vicious barrage of hard shots from Lopez ended the fight, giving him a major 135-pound title in his 15th fight.

That’s what you call a career-defining victory. And he’s only 22.

A star was born? No, a star was born 22 years ago. Lopez has unusual God-given gifts, which have been finely honed over the years. Add to that his power, his killer instinct, his poise and his ability to do a back flip and you get a truly special fighter.

And he’s just getting started.

Next up? Could be Vasiliy Lomachenko, which is playing with fire. All the momentum he has built could come to a sudden halt against the No. 1 fighter pound-for-pound. One thing, though: Lopez is naturally bigger than Lomachenko. Is that equalizer?

Should be interesting.

 

WORSE

Terence Crawford reiterated after his victory on Saturday that he’ll fight anyone, anytime. Let’s hope his top rivals were listening. Mikey Williams / Top Rank

I agree with those who say this: If Crawford wanted to fight the welterweights at Premier Boxing Champions, he probably shouldn’t have signed a long-term contract with Top Rank.

That said, I also agree with the thrust of Tim Bradley’s ringside diatribe against the PBC 147-pounders for refusing to cross promotional barriers and fight Crawford.

Like it or not, Crawford is the top welterweight and arguably the best fighter in the world. And fighters constantly say, “I want to fight the best.” Fighters also say regularly in so many words, “I want to give the fans the fights they want.” It couldn’t be more obvious that the fans want to see the PBC welterweights fight Crawford.

So why haven’t any of the them – Errol Spence, Shawn Porter, Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia, Manny Pacquiao, et al – taken the steps necessary to make it happen?

I can only come to two conclusions: One, they don’t want to fight the best. And, two, they really don’t care what the fans want. If they did, they would demand to fight Crawford. None of them have, not even Spence, the one fighter fans had been dying to see in the ring with Crawford before his car accident.

And it’s not like PBC and Top Rank are complete strangers. For example, the companies will work together on the Deontay Wilder (PBC)-Tyson Fury (Top Rank) rematch in February.

I understand the business of boxing. Promoters and managers are territorial. They want to keep their big fights – and the money they generate – in house if possible. To be sure, PBC and its welterweights aren’t breaking new ground.

It’s just a shame, from the standpoint of Crawford and the fans, that a fighter as good as he is can’t test himself against the best possible opponents because of boxing politics.

Terence Crawford and his cul-de-sac at welterweight

Whatever happens on Saturday night, Richard Commey and Teofimo Lopez have a future path. The same can’t be said for Terence Crawford.

NEW YORK – Whoever wins the lightweight title fight between champion Richard Commey and Teofimo Lopez on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden will have a lot more going on for him than just bragging rights or, in Lopez’s case, new hardware.

He’ll have a little something called momentum.

Commey-Lopez is not only the best on-paper matchup of the night, far exceeding the main event between welterweight titleholder Terence Crawford and Egidijus Kavaliauskas (we’ll get to that later). The winner could also go on to face Vasiliy Lomachenko in a unification of three of the four major lightweight belts next year. With apologies to newly minted lightweight titleholder Devin Haney, whose network allegiances make him a non-starter in this discussion, that is as about as good as it can get today in a sport beset by shoddy matchmaking and warring tribalism.

In other words, Commey-Lopez isn’t your typical boxing one-off that takes place in isolation, subject to a short half-life and a few forgettable column inches. No, its precise appeal is that it is freighted with significance beyond the 36 minutes (likely less) of combat that will unfold in the ring on Saturday night. And that’s a breath of fresh air, considering that the value of certain titleholders today are inseparable from the presumed significance of the particular alphabet-soup trinket they hold. One thinks immediately of WBO super middleweight titleholder Billy Joe Saunders and the WBO middleweight titleholder Demetrius Andrade, both of whom have fought virtually nobody of note to merit the high perch they occupy in their respective divisions.

Commey-Lopez is the latest brick laid down by promoter Top Rank toward what figures to be the edifice that will one day house the lightweight division’s most accomplished fighter. And the company did it by dutifully adding the most consequential 135-pounders, such as Ray Beltran, to their stable. They did it by scooping up Lopez from the 2016 Olympics, by getting in touch with Commey’s promoter Lou DiBella last year, by having Lomachenko outslug the likes of Pedraza and Luke Campbell (for a vacant title) earlier this year.

Commey-Lopez: Call it the big picture approach.

Alas, the same can’t be said for the fight that follows on Saturday night. Indeed, there is an air of banality surrounding titleholder Terence Crawford’s fight against undefeated Lithuanian contender Egidijus Kavaliauskas.

Even the fight’s usual carnival barkers seem to have caught on to this and have adjusted their brand of ballyhoo accordingly. Instead of selling Crawford-Kavaliauskas as a matchup of supreme consequence, they have sought to paint it as a rare opportunity to catch one of the great improvisers in the sport in action. During an ESPN segment, Teddy Atlas compared Crawford’s ring “instincts” to Jimi Hendrix riffing on the guitar, Bobby Fischer overlooking a chess board, and Louis Armstrong blowing the trumpet. “(Crawford) creates it as he does it,” Atlas said. “He’s got the greatest instincts I’ve ever seen.” Sitting beside Atlas, Max Kellerman, no stranger to rhetorical overkill himself, guffawed upon hearing that comment.

Actually, from a contemporary standpoint, Atlas isn’t entirely wrong. Few fighters have shown themselves to be as versatile and creative in the ring as Crawford. At some point, however, such claims must be born out in the ring against the very best.

Unfortunately, Crawford is Exhibit A in the ramifications wrought by the sport’s frustrating political divide. Unlike its lightweight stable, Top Rank simply does not have the key players at welterweight to fulfill on the promise of a generational talent like Crawford. Unlike Commey-Lopez, Crawford-Kavaliauskas doesn’t lead anywhere. There is no conceivable Lomachenko for Crawford waiting in the wings. Crawford’s best possible opponents – Errol Spence, Manny Pacquiao, Shawn Porter, Danny Garcia and Keith Thurman – are all aligned with Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions, which understandably prefers to do their own round robin of fights. Moreover, whatever hope there was that the two sides could come together to stage a Crawford-Spence bout appears to have gone out the window in the wake of Spence’s harrowing car accident in October. At the very least, that fight is on the back-burner.

Crawford’s seemingly hamstrung future has had the effect of completely whitewashing his opponent, Kavaliauskas, a two-time Olympian who is known to crack with both hands. Kavaliauskas is no schlub, but his last fight, a draw against a distinctly mediocre Ray Robinson, did much to lower his stock. But Crawford, to be sure, is simply graded on a different scale. It is difficult to imagine what Kavaliauskas could bring to the ring that will trouble Crawford.

A saving grace for Crawford may be the current crop of elite junior welterweights who will all likely move up to 147 at some point, including Top Rank stablemate Jose Ramirez, Josh Taylor and Regis Prograis. But that development might take a year or more, which is an eternity for a fighter who is already 32 years old. 

The difference with Hendrix and Armstrong? They were soloists whose virtuosities did not necessarily rely on anyone else. In boxing, they call that shadowboxing.

Chris Eubank Jr. seeks new horizons in United States

Chris Eubank Jr. will make his U.S. debut against middleweight southpaw Matvey Korobov on the undercard of Charlo-Hogan this Saturday.

Chris Eubank Jr. knows that there is only so much he can do to further build on his family name back home in England. Here in America, though? The possibilities seem endless.

“My goal is to make a name for myself in the U.S. and broaden our horizons,” Eubank, the son of former two-division titleholder Chris Eubank Sr., said during a media workout today in Brooklyn. “The fight fans here have known me for a while, but I want to break out past that.”

The 30-year-old Eubank takes his first step in that direction against Matvey Korobov this Saturday at the Barclays Center on the undercard of the middleweight title fight between Jermall Charlo and Dennis Hogan.

“This is a great starting fight for me in the U.S. We’re aiming to make our own history,” Eubank said. “I’ve done so much in England, and I feel like this is the right time to expose myself to the American public.”

Chris Eubank Jr. came to the U.S. to conquer new territories. Stephanie Trapp / Showtime

Eubank (28-2, 21 knockouts) is coming off a career-best win over former super middleweight titleholder and compatriot James DeGale last February. Eubank battered the shopworn DeGale over 12 rounds en route to a unanimous-decision win. He also participated in the World Boxing Super series 168-pound tournament, defeating Avni Yildirim by third-round knockout but dropping a decision to George Groves, another domestic rival.

Eubank suffered his other loss early in his career against Billy Joe Saunders, which is to say that he has pretty much exhausted all the major fights in his native U.K. Hence, his focus on the U.S. scene.

“I’ve been dreaming about coming here and fighting in the U.S. since I was a kid,” he said. “You dream about fighting where all your favorite fighters came to perform on the big stage. To do it here in New York is special. It’s an iconic place, and so many great world champions have come from here.”

Against Korobov, Eubank will face a skilled southpaw who gave 160-pound titleholder Charlo all he could handle last year. Some observers believe Korobov did enough to eke out a decision. One possible factor in Eubank’s favor is that he will be fighting at his natural weight for the first time in several years.

“I’m not a true super middleweight, so I’m excited to be fighting at 160 pounds. I’m going to be a beast,” Eubank said. “I’m going to be an absolute savage. The power and the speed is going to really shine through against guys my own size.”

Should he get past Korobov on Saturday, Eubank has his sights set any of the middleweight titleholders, including one of Saturday’s main-eventers.

“Anyone with a belt in the middleweight division, I’m coming for them,” Eubank said. “If that means Charlo, I’ll be more than happy to get in there with him.”

 

Premier Boxing Champions strikes pay-per-view deal with In Demand

PBC has entered into a multi-year PPV deal with distributor In Demand to provide up to at least four boxing PPV shows per year.

Premier Boxing Champions is doubling down on the pay-per-view business.

The boxing management stable headed by Al Haymon has signed a multi-year output deal with In Demand, a major pay-per-view distributor owned by Comcast Cable, Charter Communications and Cox Communications, it was announced today in a release.

“PBC has the best fighters and most anticipated bouts in the boxing world today,” said Mark Boccardi, In Demand’s senior vice president of programming and marketing. “We’ve been distributing PBC’s exciting matches on pay-per-view for some time, but we’ve now cemented our alliance for the next several years.

“It’s gratifying that Premier Boxing Champions recognizes the benefits of committing to a long-term partnership and reaping the rewards that In Demand offers our pay-per-view content providers: revenue, distribution and marketing support.”

PBC has exclusive output deals with Showtime and Fox, an enthusiastic proponent of the pay-per-view business model. In Demand distributed all four Fox Sports/PBC pay-per-view events in 2019, including the recent Deontay Wilder-Luis Ortiz rematch last month. That fight was the sixth pay-per-view boxing event In Demand distributed this year.

In Demand was left with a gaping void in its programming to start the year after the UFC left Fox for ESPN+, the streaming app, and Canelo Alvarez, perhaps the most bankable active boxer in the sport, signed an exclusive deal with streaming upstart DAZN, which started its early ad campaign with a heavy anti-pay-per-view slant.

But the absence of some familiar players in the pay-per-view market is not necessarily leading to its demise, as some had predicted. At Fox Sports, Executive Vice President of Programming Bill Wanger said he remains “very bullish” on pay-per-view. Including the Wilder-Ortiz II show, Fox has broadcast four pay-per-view boxing shows this year. The other three: Manny Pacquiao-Keith Thurman, Errol Spence-Mikey Garcia and Errol Spence-Shawn Porter.

According to Multi Channel News, In Demand’s first boxing event in 2020 could be the joint pay-per-view effort between ESPN and Fox for the Wilder vs. Tyson Fury rematch pegged for Feb. 22.

In Demand also inked a concurrent pay-per-view deal with All Elite Wrestling.

Terence Crawford: Inability to lure PBC fighters into ring, ‘It’s frustrating’

Terence Crawford admits that the inability to make deals to face his PBC rivals is frustrating.

Terence Crawford wants to fight his welterweight counterparts at Premier Boxing Champions. The fact he can’t, he said, “It’s frustrating.”

Crawford (35-0, 26 knockouts) is scheduled to defend his 147-pound belt against mandatory challenger Egidijus Kavaliauskas (21-0-1, 17 KOs) on Dec. 14 in New York City. He’d rather be fighting Errol Spence, Shawn Porter, Manny Pacquiao or Keith Thurman, all of whom are managed by PBC.

The problem is the fighters’ affiliations. Crawford is promoted by Top Rank, whose fights are televised on ESPN. PBC has a deal with Fox and Showtime. And cross-platform agreements are hard to reach, especially when one side (PBC) has all the fighters it needs to make good matchups.

Crawford expressed his feelings in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.

“It’s frustrating but I look at it as a business move by them not to fight me,” said Crawford, referring to the inability to make these fights. “I’m not going to knock them or be a hater, but I know where I stand and I know the game they’re playing and there’s nothing I can do about it.

“I just have to focus on what I can do and keep making a living and keeping my name up there as the best pound-for-pound fighter.”

Crawford seems particularly pessimistic about a possible matchup with Spence, his greatest rival for welterweight supremacy. Spence, recovering from injuries suffered in a car accident, is expected to fight next year.

“I don’t know if that fight will ever happen,” he said. “That’s not something I can decide. It takes two people to fight, and it takes two companies to sit down and figure it out and decide what network we’re going to fight on, where we’re going to fight, what the purses are going to be. It’s not as easy as people think it is, but it could be easy if we finally sat down at the same table and made it happen.”

He went on: “I’m willing to fight all those guys, but it’s not up to me to decide if I’m going to fight them or if I’m not going to fight them. I’m open to fighting all those guys. I’ve been saying that from Day 1. Nothing has changed. I’m the best fighter in the division and I’m always willing to prove it.”

“… Bob is willing to make any fight happen,” Crawford said. “At the end of the day, it’s not up to Bob. It’s up to me. The fighters are the ones that fight, and without us, there’s no promotion. So if a fighter really wants a fight to happen, he can make it happen. You can tell them, ‘Listen, this is the fight I want and I’m not fighting until I get that fight.’ It’s simple. At the end of the day, they work for us. If we don’t fight, nobody is going to get paid, so they have to make the fights that the fighters want.”

Crawford, 32, told The Times that he wants to accomplish as much as possible before he retires in three to four years.

“I still want to be the undisputed welterweight champion of the world,” he said, “and I believe I’ll be the first to be undisputed in two divisions, back-to-back. I just want to leave a mark on the sport of boxing so people talk about me like they talk about the other great champions before me. That’s my goal before I retire.”

Mikey Garcia vs. Jessie Vargas? A few thoughts on that concept

Does talk of a fight between Mikey Garcia and Jessie Vargas on DAZN mean Manny Pacquiao plans to fight Danny Garcia?

A welterweight fight between Mikey Garcia and Jessie Vargas for the first quarter of next year has been discussed, according to The Athletic. The fight would be streamed on DAZN.

Promoter Eddie Hearn, who works with DAZN, has been courting Garcia for some time in hopes of signing him to a multi-fight deal, The Athletic reported. If he’s successful, a meeting with Vargas could kick off the relationship.

Two takeaways from that report:

One, Garcia told me a few years ago that he had no interest in signing a long-term deal with anyone after his relationship with then-promoter Bob Arum soured. Garcia sat out 2½ years waiting for his contract with Arum to end and become a free agent.

Of course, things change. The guaranteed money might be too tempting to resist now for whatever reason. We’ll see.

Two, Garcia has been mentioned as a possible opponent for Manny Pacquiao. I’m guessing that Pacquiao has decided to keep it in the PBC family and fight the other Garcia, Danny, a legitimate 147-pounder who might be seen as a more legitimate threat than Mikey. Mikey Garcia is coming off a one-sided loss to Errol Spence.

Again, we’ll see.

Floyd Mayweather is a wildcard. If he’s serious about a comeback, a rematch with Pacquiao would be a bonanza for both fighters. Pacquiao certainly would jump at the opportunity.

Would Mayweather, 42, really risk his perfect record? Doubtful. Exhibitions or another “fight” against an MMA star, maybe; a sanctioned boxing match, no.

That said, “Money” loves money. Anything is possible.