Four-division champion Mikey Garcia is still pursuing a fight with Filipino legend Manny Pacquiao, according to promoter Eddie Hearn.
Garcia (40-1, 30 KOs) fell short in his bid for a world title in a fifth weight class when he was emphatically outpointed by welterweight title-holder Errol Spence in March 2019, but the Californian hasn’t given up on that dream with Pacquiao his preferred target. He bounced back by dropping and outscoring Jessie Vargas in February, and remains one of the name fighters in a richly-talented 147lbs division.
WBA Super champion Pacquaio (62-7-2, 39 KOs) seems unlikely to fight in 2020 due to the chaos caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic and absence of a live gate, but Garcia’s promoter Hearn says the Filipino remains the top target once the situation eases.
“Mikey Garcia is one of the fortunate ones that has boxed this year, so he’s not busting my phone up too much at the moment. But he wants to fight Manny Pacquiao,” Hearn told DAZN.
“It’s very difficult to make those sort of fights at the moment, unless we get a big site fee from another country. Mikey is basically that guy who wants the monstrous fights, and he’ll be looking to make that happen.
“For all of these top names, it’s just a case of getting them out just once this year. Letting them get out there, letting them progress their career, letting them get paid, keeping their profile bubbling. And that’s the tough job for us now, coming through Fight Camp, trying to schedule all these major names and world champions without crowds. It’s going to be a tough task over the next couple of months.”