Mikey Garcia has made it clear that he prefers to stay at 147 pounds in hopes of becoming a five-division titleholder. Although many, including his own trainer and family, believe that the 140-pound weight class is where he belongs, Garcia cites the difficulty of landing a world title fight at junior welterweight as one of the reasons that he simply isn't interested in dropping down to a weight class where he has already been a champion.
During an appearance on the Sports Illustrated boxing podcast, Garcia ran down several reasons why a return to 140 pounds is unlikely.
"You know, there's many fights at 140," Garcia said. "But when you look at the politics and business, you know, it's gonna be a little more complicated to secure world title fights at 140, being that both champions are [with] a different promotional company. You know, one of them, Jose Ramirez, he's with us, he's a teammate of mine, with my brother, Robert. So, that's out of the question. I just don't feel that I'm gonna be able to secure a world title fight at 140 anytime soon. So, I think my chances are better at 147."
There's also a matter of politics getting in the way as both Ramirez and fellow 140-pound champion Josh Taylor are promoted by Top Rank, which is Garcia's former promotional outfit. The four-division champion was out of the ring for over two years because of a dispute with Arum, in which a settlement agreement was reached in May 2016.
"When I look at politics, and I look at business, you know, it's gonna be almost impossible to get one of those fights for a world title at 140," Garcia said. "And I don't wanna just be fighting contenders and waiting and waiting and waiting. You know, I actually feel that 147 pounds is a bigger challenge, but I still feel confident enough to accomplish what I want. You know, I wanna win a world title at welterweight."
After defeating Jessie Vargas by unanimous decision in February for his first win at welterweight, Garcia set his sights on WBA (Super) champion Manny Pacquiao. If he can't secure the Pacquiao clash or a fight of that magnitude, Garcia isn't opposed to facing the winner of 143-pound catchweight fight between Maurice Hooker and Regis Prograis. The fight was scheduled for April 17 but got postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic that has halted sporting events in the United States.
"There's still some very good fights," Garcia said. "Even at 140, there are good fights, and I was already champion at 140. So, it's not that there isn't interesting fights there. It's just that I think [winning a title] at 147 means that much more to me right now. I'm not saying I won't come back to '40. If the right fight is available at 140 for my next fight, I might be able to come down to '40. If it is, you know, say Prograis or Hooker, you know, even if it is a non-title fight, that's still a fight that can interest me.
"But I have to compare what's available at 147. If I don't have anything available at welterweight, you know, that's exciting or big enough, then I'll definitely consider coming back to '40, where I can still have great fights and still add to the legacy by defeating other guys there. But, you know, the biggest challenge right now is 147. And just because everybody thinks I can't do it, that actually motivates me more to show everybody that I can, and I'm capable of it."