Four-division world champion Mikey Garcia is eager to get back into the boxing ring and like many working class Americans he hopes to get back to work having been under quarantine orders for months due to the coronavirus outbreak that affected the entire world.
Garcia has stated in several interviews during the pandemic that his main goal is try to secure a fight with Filipino ring legend Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao and win the WBA welterweight title off of him to achieve his goal of becoming a five-division world champion.
In a recent interview with Fight Hype reporter Rainbow Alexander, Garcia revealed he hasn’t spoken to Team Pacquiao since before his fight with Jessie Vargas back in February.
“We were talking to team Pacquiao earlier in the year before my fight with Jessie (Vargas) and they were excited to possibly get a fight with me but this whole Covid situation came down, came down on everybody and it really slowed down things,” Garcia told boxing reporter Rainbow Alexander. “We don’t know if that’s going to be the plan for Manny, I mean he’s got a lot of options too. It’s been a year since he last fought so who knows if he still wants to fight me next or maybe he wants to fight somebody else. I haven’t spoken to their team in a long time so I have no clue. I would love to get a fight with Manny, I think that would be a terrific fight. Styles make fights and I think that would be great not only for me but the fans would really enjoy it.
Garcia also hopes for a solution or vaccine to this COVID-19 virus so everyone can get back to their normal life and not be afraid of it anymore.
“I hope we can clear this whole thing soon for everybody to get healthy and not be afraid of the virus. Hopefully they develop some kind of vaccine, something that can really control this and help and if that does, the first thing we are going to do is push for a Manny fight, that is the goal on my agenda.
Garcia also told Alexander that he would use a smart and effective strategy if he faces Pacquiao. He also feels standing toe to toe trading blows with the Pac-Man would be bad for him and using a counter-punching style similar to Juan Manuel Marquez would be his approach.
“I feel that I would be able to box and counter-punch, use my skills in that way to try to make the fight in my favor,” said Garcia on what his main strategy would be against Pacquiao. “If I stayed in the pocket trading punches, I think that would be a mistake. I gotta be able to move. I gotta be able to dodge punches. I gotta be able to throw counter-punch combinations similar to the way Juan Manuel Marquez fought. If I stayed and trade punches with him, I think he would overwhelm me with punches because he punches in 5, 6, 7 punch combinations and moves around in different angles, so I’m not going to do that. I will box. Try to box effectively on the outside and counter-punch with combinations, I think that is the key to a fight with Manny Pacquiao.”
