Jose Ramirez, who holds two of the four major 140-pound titles, said he wants to unify all the belts before leaving the division.
Junior welterweight titleholder Jose Ramirez will move up to welterweight sooner or later. Emphasis on later.
Ramirez, who holds two of the four major 140-pound titles, said in a recent Top Rank interview that he wants to unify all the belts before leaving the division. That means he’d have to fight Josh Taylor, who holds the other two titles.
A title defense against mandatory challenger Viktor Postol has been postponed twice because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I think I owe I to myself to fight for all the belts,” Ramirez said. “If I were to move up to the next weight class [without doing so], there will always be that doubt because there is another guy with two belts. And there are some other fighters that I did not get to face at 140.”
Ramirez also has a mandatory defense against Jack Catterall due on his other title. And Taylor is scheduled to defend against his own mandatory challenger Apinun Khongsong.
So it would appear that the earliest a Ramirez-Taylor fight could take place is next year. Ramirez is willing to wait.
“I really want to prove a lot of people wrong,” Ramirez said. “I want to do it to myself. I know I can be the best 140 in the world. I know I can see myself with all four of those belts, and it’s a matter of time.
“Once I do that, it’s going to put my name worldwide. It is definitely going to make a stronger impact when I do move to 147 knowing that the undisputed world champion is moving up to 147. I think that’s going to make more noise.”
Mikey Garcia said he matches up better with the smallish Manny Pacquiao than he did against Errol Spence Jr.
Money is a powerful incentive to pursue a fight with Manny Pacquiao. However, for Mikey Garcia, there’s more to it than that.
The former four-division titleholder told BadLeftHook.com that he also likes the fact that Pacquiao is a small welterweight, as he is. Both of them could fight at 140 pounds but chose to fight at 147 because of the more-lucrative fights at that weight.
Garcia is coming off a fight with a big, talented welterweight in Errol Spence Jr., who dominated the bout from beginning to end to win a shutout decision in March of last year.
“I think styles make fights,” Mikey said. “He’s not a tall, lanky fighter who can complicate things like Errol Spence did. He’s shorter in height, doesn’t have the reach like some of these other welterweights do. That fits much better to give an entertaining fight with me.
“I remember sparring with him years ago, and I was able to fight similar to what [Erik] Morales and [Juan Manuel] Marquez did. It was only sparring, but I did well.”
Garcia reportedly on the short list of prospective opponents for Pacquiao, who outpointed Keith Thurman to win a title in his last fight.
Danny Garcia wants to win one more title at 147 pounds and then win one at 154 to complete his legacy.
Danny Garcia said he will eventually move up to 154 pounds in pursuit of a world title in a third weight class. Not yet, though. He has more he wants to accomplish at 147.
Garcia was tentatively scheduled to fight titleholder Errol Spence Jr. on January 25 but Spence’s horrific car accident in October forced him to change plans. He ended up easily outpointing Ivan Redkach on that date at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Garcia (36-2, 21 KOs) still wants Spence, who holds two belts, but he has a long list of options that appeal to him.
“Yes, that’s what we want,” Garcia said on The PBC Podcast. “We want [Spence] … or Manny Pacquiao or a rematch with Keith Thurman or Shawn Porter or even Mikey Garcia. That would be a big fight. … Any of those fights could be next for me.”
And if it’s Spence?
“I feel it’s a great style for me,” Garcia said. “Porter hit him a lot. I’ve seen things in the Mikey Garcia fight that I could definitely take advantage of and defeat him.”
Garcia, 32, doesn’t expect to fight all the rivals he mentioned. He plans to fight two more times at 147, winning another welterweight title in the process, and then move up to junior middleweight.
“I definitely want to become a champion in a third division,” he said. “… It’s always been my goal to win titles at 140, 147 and 154. … I feel like I have two more big fights left at this weight class, at 147, against either a Pacquiao or a Spence and I would want to rematch Thurman or Porter and get that victory. Then there’s nothing more for me to do at 147.
“I want to win another welterweight title. I need to get one big win at 147. And then I want to win at title at 154. I feel like my legacy will be complete after that.”
Mikey Garcia is staying put at the welterweight limit, he said in a recent interview on the Chris Mannix podcast.
Mikey Garcia is a boxer first and businessman-cum-pragmatist a close, close second.
The four-division titleholder has his eyes dead set on winning a world title at the 147-pound welterweight limit even though there are some, such as his father Eduardo and brother/trainer Robert, who believe that he would be better served dropping back down to 140, where the fights ostensibly would be more winnable.
Given the way Garcia, a former featherweight, struggled against welterweight titleholder Errol Spence Jr. last year, the elder Garcias are concerned that Mikey simply gives up too much size to be truly competitive against the likes of Shawn Porter, Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia and Terence Crawford.
Mikey Garcia demonstrated against Jessie Vargas last month that he can handle a good welterweight. Tom Pennington / Getty Images
Garcia’s recent points win over fringe welterweight contender Jesse Vargas in February arguably produced as many questions as answers.
“[My father and brother] still tell me, ‘You know, now that I did it (win a fight at welterweight) maybe I should consider coming back down to 140,'” Garcia said on the Chris Mannix Boxing Podcast. “They still feel like I’m a small fighter at 147, I’m too small. My dad especially. He feels like 140 pounds should be a better weight for me to be fighting at.
“Men at 140 are more comparable to my size. He still reminds me all the time. I was a featherweight, so size-wise, I’m not [that big].”
Garcia gets his family’s concerns. But the realist in him also knows 147 is where the big paydays are. A Manny Pacquiao fight could materialize later this year or whenever the coronavirus pandemic subsides. And nobody, at least as the welterweight division is concerned, brings in as much dough as Pacquiao.
Moreover, negotiations aren’t hampered by political divisions that routinely prevent some of the best fights from being made. Both are aligned with Premier Boxing Champions, as are most of the other top welterweights.
“I still feel that my abilities, my skills allow me to compete at 147, and I feel like I can win a title at 147, and that’s part of the challenge,” Garcia said. “I want to challenge myself. Not to say that at 140 there’s no challenges. Of course there are. But when you look at the politics and business, it’s going to be a bit more complicated to secure a world-title fight at 140, being that both champions are with different promotional companies.”
Garcia (right) was overwhelmed by Errol Spence in March of last year but was determined to stay at 147 pounds. AP Photo / Richard W. Rodriguez
At 140, the four recognized titles are split evenly between Jose Ramirez and Josh Taylor. Of course, the kicker is that they’re both promoted (read: controlled) by Bob Arum’s Top Rank, Garcia’s former promoter.
Garcia and Arum went through an ugly, protracted legal battle a few years ago. As a result, they don’t do business together these days. The bad blood apparently is still there. The irascible Arum went so far as to claim recently that he has no desire to work with Garcia ever again. Add to that the fact that Ramirez is trained by Robert Garcia, and it’s easy to see why Garcia has little faith that big fights at 140 can happen for him.
“I just don’t feel like I’m going to be able to secure a world title shot at 140 anytime soon,” Garcia said. “So I think my chances are good at 147.”
It’s a no-brainer for Garcia (40-1, 30 KOs). At 147, there’s more money, more challenges and most of all, no Arum.
“[My family] understand[s] that it’s my call to make the decision,” Garcia said. “I do consider their opinions very much and I do see their reasoning behind why 140 is a better weight class for me, but, like I said, when I look at politics, when I look at business, it’s going to be almost impossible to get one of those world title fights at 140.
“I just don’t want to be fighting contenders and waiting and waiting and waiting. 147 is a bigger challenge, but I still feel confident that I can accomplish what I want. I want to win a world title at welterweight.”
Lightweight titleholder Vasiliy Lomachemko, Boxing Junkie’s No. 1 fighter pound-for-pound, would be another intriguing matchup for Garcia. Two problems, though. One, moving back down to 135 would be difficult. And, two, Lomachenko is an Arum fighter.
“Look, you need to ask Bob,” Garcia said when asked about the Lomachenko matchup. “He controls them. He’s their promoter. I just saw a recent interview with him where he didn’t have much interest in a fight with me. I’m not waiting for anybody.”
Garcia is chasing both top risk and reward. Any criticism is just more fuel for the fire.
“That’s part of the risk, but that’s also part of the reward,” Garcia said. “You win a title in a fifth division when nobody thought you could do it, and that’s in the history books.
“Just because everybody thinks I can’t [win a title at 147], that just motivates me even more.”
Terence Crawford’s trainer Brian McIntyre says the welterweight titleholder will likely fight twice this year.
New year, same old question: Who will Terence Crawford fight?
The welterweight titleholder is counted as one of the sport’s finest talents, but his career prospects have noticeably dimmed in recent years because of his inability to land meaningful fights. Blame the sport’s wretched partisan divisions. All of the other titleholders – namely, Manny Pacquiao and Errol Spence Jr. – and most of the top contenders reside under the Premier Boxing Champions banner led by Al Haymon, who doesn’t do much business with Top Rank’s Bob Arum, Crawford’s promoter
Crawford overcome a shaky start to stop little known contender Egidijus Kavaliauskas in the ninth-round at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 14 in New York City. The Nebraskan was in vintage form, but at 32, one figures he needs bigger names and bigger fights to remain a compelling attraction.
It’s not all doom and gloom in the Crawford camp, however. Brian McIntyre, Crawford’s chief trainer and manager, is confident that things will work out. He told Boxing Junkie that he recently sat down with Top Rank head Bob Arum “to talk about options” for Crawford’s next fight.
A few potential scenarios were broached: A pay-per-view fight distributed either on the ESPN+ app or through the ESPN linear channel, to take place in either Crawford’s hometown or in Las Vegas. McIntyre stayed mum on the potential opponent, but offered a general time table for his charge’s return to the ring.
“Late May, early June,” he said.
Of course, one of the biggest matches that boxing fans have been clamoring for is between Crawford and Errol Spence Jr., who defeated Shawn Porter last September to unify two welterweight belts. McIntyre insisted that they are still targeting Spence, who survived a horrific car crash in October. (Spence announced at a public appearance in December that he would return in the summer.)
“A stay busy fight [and then], at the end of the year, a potential fight with Spence,” McIntyre said.
In the meantime, there have been rumors swirling that contender Josesito Lopez is the running for Crawford’s next fight. McIntyre shut that down, saying, “Who the hell wants to fight him?”
Pressed on why a potential fight with Shawn Porter fell through, McIntyre offered no comment.
