Bob Arum: Mikey Garcia Can’t Sell Anything!
On February 29, four-division champion Mikey Garcia (40-1, 30 KO’s) went a long way in proving that perhaps he really is a force to be reckoned with in the welterweight division. He did so by besting former two-division champion Jessie “The Pride of Las Vegas” Vargas (29-3-2, 11 KO’s) in route to a 12-round unanimous decision victory.
SWEET REDEMPTION
Almost exactly one year prior to his triumph over Vargas, Garcia made his closely watched debut in the welterweight division versus IBF and WBC world welterweight champion Errol “The Truth” Spence Jr.(26-0, 21 KO’s). In order to make this bout a reality, Garcia jumped up two divisions from his previous dust-up with Robert Easter Jr.
Ahead of the prizefight, Garcia promised that he saw holes in the Truth’s game that he vowed to exploit. Well, whatever holes he thought he saw in Spence’s craft must have been masterfully plugged up by fight night! Once in the ring, Mikey Garcia did little else outside of getting belted, bruised and punched around the four corners of the squared-circle.
In fact, the only real accolade that Garcia earned was for his heart in not quitting or looking for a way out of the one-way beat down. In the aftermath of the Spence thrashing, many thought that he should return to light or super lightweight. Now that he has proven that he is capable of holding his own at 147, Garcia is open to all fights in three divisions.
BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE!!
One such fight that Mikey Garcia has shown interest in was with WBC, IBF and WBC diamond super lightweight champion Josh “The Tartan Tornado” Taylor (16-0, 12 KO’s). Sadly, while Garcia may be interested in his showdown, Taylor’s Top Rank promoter Bob Arum has absolutely zero desire to have anything to do with the potential prizefight.
The aging fight hustler let every bit of his distaste be felt when conducting an extremely short interview with Fight Hub TV.
“As far as I’m concerned, Mikey Garcia just should forget about it because the money that Mikey Garcia wants is obscene and he’s not worth it! He can’t draw anything and let him stay with Eddie Hearn, who will squander a lot of money on him.”
“I’m not interested in promoting a fight with Mikey Garcia. Not that he isn’t a good fighter, not that he isn’t a nice fellow. He is a nice fellow, but his financial demands are ludicrous…because money is money! I know what a fight can bring in. I’m not in a position, [nor] do I want to be in a position as Eddie Hearn was with DAZN squandering other people’s money accomplishing nothing! That’s not my business!”
Given these stern words, it would definitely appear that Garcia should turn his attention elsewhere when seeking out his next fight!
By: Bakari Simpson
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