For Mikey Garcia, who lost his unbeaten record in daring to be great against the bigger and better Errol Spence on Saturday night, the next move he makes seems clear: drop back down in weight and fast, as fast as it is safe and not debilitating to do so. Garcia, 39-1(30) took quite a shellacking in the 12-round decision loss to Spence, in the later rounds especially, and we have no idea how many ill effects, if any, Mikey will suffer as a result.
But if he can come back – and it seems highly unlikely he will retire – Garcia could still win some big fights down at 135, or maybe at 140. Some people said all along that Garcia was biting off more than he could chew in going up to welterweight, that he should have taken a super-fight with Vasyl Lomachenko instead. Could this match-up, one promoter Bob Arum really wanted to see and perhaps still does, still happen? Maybe.
And as much as Garcia would be in tough against the superb southpaw form Ukraine, chances are he would stand more of a chance against Lomachenko than he stood against Spence (again, providing he has not been ‘ruined’ by the hammering he took on Saturday night in Texas). Fans would still like to see this fight, after Garcia has boxed a return fight first, and providing he looks good in it. Or maybe there are other meaningful fights at 135 for Garcia.
The 140 pound division is quite wide open right now, with a number of excellent champions all reigning and aiming for dominance. Garcia against a Maurice Hooker, a Regis Prograis, a Jose Ramirez or an Ivan Baranchyk would prove interesting. Garcia has had just two fights as a 140 pounder so maybe he will indeed look for more action there. Garcia also boxed just twice as a lightweight, so maybe he will look to pick up where he left off there. Still the WBC champ at 135, Garcia could feature in some good fights. The big one would be the Lomachenko fight of course.
Garcia is still only 31 years of age and, the Spence loss aside, he has not really taken too much punishment. But again, did that heavy loss take a lot out of Garcia, maybe even finish him as an elite level fighter? For Mikey, after taking a long and deserved break, it will be big decision time. Even if the decision he must make to move back down in weight is a pretty obvious one.