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After a
productive last year, WBO junior lightweight champion Mikey Garcia makes his 2014
debut in defense of his title against Juan Carlos Burgos from the Theater at
Madison Square Garden (HBO, 9:45 p.m., ET/PT). This year could be a huge one
for Garcia, who has clearly established himself as one of the most gifted young
prizefighters in the sport.
Bob Arum, whose
company, Top Rank Promotions handles Garcia, says the next 12 months could be “very
big for [Garcia], very big for him because it's going to be a breakout year for
him. We're looking for him to go up in weight. We're looking for him to get him
in a position where he would be an opponent for Pacquiao.”
And yes, Arum
means Manny, not Bobby.
The bottom line
is that as boxing's “Cold War” between Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions shows
no signs of thawing, options are now limited for the “Pac-Man.” It's clear that
despite just winning this 130-pound title in November (with a stoppage of Rocky
Martinez), Garcia is being fast-tracked to a possible shot at Pacquiao sooner
rather than later. This match-up could potentially take place as early as the
end of this year.
“Well, that
depends; this will probably be [Garcia’s] last fight at 130. He’ll probably go
up to 135 and then maybe 140, then [be] ready to fight Pacquiao,” said Arum,
mapping out a best-case scenario for the 26-year-old Garcia, who has a sterling
record of 33-0 (28). On a national conference call last week, Garcia told the
media of his future plans, “We will have to look at the options after this
fight. Hopefully, everything turns out well next week and we can move
forward with our plans. We’d have
to look at the top fighters in the next weight class and if I do that, I have
to grow into the weight class. I would like to unify the titles before
moving up but if there is something better at 135, then I will go there. Then I can unify the titles there or
move up to 140 if the right fight is there or what options are
available. It’s not easy to put a fight together and in this business,
you’ve got to look at everything before you can move up in weight class.”
Garcia added later, “I would have to make a fight at 135 before moving up to
140. I feel that 135 would be a
very good division for me and I think I can do something in the lightweight
division.”
If he should move up to lightweight, HBO would like to see a match-up with the
heavily-hyped Yuriorkis Gamboa. It's the type of high-profile fight that could
help continue to propel Garcia's profile with the casual fan. The reality is
that for as good as Garcia is, he is still nothing close to a legitimate draw
or an attraction (although he has procured solid HBO ratings). The truth is Seanie
Monaghan is the biggest ticket seller this weekend at the Garden.
Arum likes the idea of Garcia facing Gamboa but notes, “It depends; HBO has
been trying to get that fight done and a lot of it depends on Gamboa being
realistic as to what his purse should be and what 50 [Cent] should get as his
promoter and they are optimistic that they are getting to the ballpark and I
know [Top Rank President] Todd [duBoef] is meeting with [Garcia’s manager] Cameron
[Dunkin] to figure out what it will take for Mikey and if they figures come
together, we'd love to do it this spring if he beats Burgos.”
Of course, getting Gamboa to agree to a fight (at least verbally) is one thing;
getting him to actually show up is another. There is still a healthy skepticism
about this Cuban given how he bailed on his scheduled bout against Brandon Rios
in 2012. “Well, of course there is,” said Arum. “I mean, that was a fight, as I
remember, we had Rios going to the press conference down there in Miami.” Only
problem was Gamboa was a no-show and eventually, Richar Abril stepped in his
place.
It was at this time last year (in the same venue) when Garcia captured his
first major world title by defeating Orlando Salido for the WBO featherweight
strap. A year from now (or sooner), he could be facing Pacquiao between 140 and
147 pounds.
PACQUIAO
Speaking of Pacquiao, he is slated to return to the ring on April 12th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. As for whom he will face, Arum told Maxboxing, “I
believe he has decided but we have to finalize the details. [Pacquiao's
adviser] Mike Koncz had to make a trip to Idaho and we're going to talk tonight
(Monday) and tomorrow (Tuesday) to finalize it and Todd will hopefully be finalizing
it with [Pacquiao’s] opponent.”
Regardless, Arum
says a press conference has been scheduled for Los Angeles on February 4th and New York on February 5th.
MEA CULPA
“Sulaiman had many loyalists who spoke highly of him. But of course, it could
be argued that nothing less could be said by partners-in-crime like King and
Top Rank Promotions’ Bob Arum. Those who benefited from his power and influence
of course will defend him till the end. But on the other side of the spectrum,
a large number of promoters, managers and fighters who weren’t the
beneficiaries of his largesse probably don’t share the same feeling as their
careers were adversely affected by his byzantine rulings. We get the feeling
that Graciano Rocchigiani didn’t send a bouquet of flowers to Sulaiman’s wake.”
But Arum points out,
“Jose Sulaiman, from the ‘70’s with [Muhammad] Ali, when he stripped [Leon]
Spinks of his title for fighting Ali in that rematch and not giving the shot to
Ken Norton and then he made Norton [vs. Larry] Holmes for the title. We've had
an adversarial relationship for much of that period and even before, it wasn't
really good but anybody who was around boxing that bothers to do a lot of
research knows that. Obviously, when I saw [Sulaiman] at a fight, we were civil
to each other because we’re not trash-talking animals. But if you read all of
the articles and so forth in the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s and even in the 2000s,
you'll see constant, constant bickering, threats and all, that sort of stuff.”
I admit I
screwed the pooch. I was dead wrong and, yes, I should've researched their
history better than I did (I now recall that after the third bout between
Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, Arum told the Mexican press to deliver the
message to Senor Sulaiman that he was “an a**hole”). My apologies.
NO-(GG)GO
In a buzzkill,
HBO sent out a release announcing that Gennady Golovkin's bout on February 1st would not be televised after all:
After extensive collective efforts, logistics to produce the fight
from Monte Carlo could not be resolved.
We have tried for the past month to find a way to televise Gennady
Golovkin vs. Osumanu Adama on Feb. 1 from Monte Carlo.
Unfortunately, the venue could not accommodate our production
needs. We spent weeks looking at creative ways to produce a telecast for
the HBO2 service from Monte Carlo and it simply could not get resolved. We
are grateful for all the assistance from Tom Loeffler and K2 in trying to get
us accommodated.
“GGG” is slated
to return to the network on April 26th from the Theater of Madison
Square Garden.
TNR
Here's the 2014
debut of “The Next Round” with Gabe Montoya and Yours Truly:
SNOWY EAST COAST
FLURRIES
Felix Verdejo is on the card this
weekend at the Theater...Jesse Hart faces rugged journeyman Derrick Findley in
what could be considered a bit of a step-up fight...Are Brandon Rios and
Yuriorkis Gamboa still going at it on Twitter?...It's a shame about NaVorro
Bowman's injury. He was playing as well as any linebacker in the league (including
his teammate, Patrick Willis)...I get the sense that Bill Belichick really
hates Wes Welker...It’s really not going to snow at the Super Bowl; right?…
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