Mikey Garcia is leaning in the direction of Errol ‘The Truth’ Spence Jr to defeat Manny Pacquiao on August 21st. Mikey has shared the ring with both fighters, and he sees Spence (27-0, 21 KOs) as having the youth, size, and skills to beat the Filpino star Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs).
It’ll be far from an easy fight for Spence, says Mikey, due to Pacquiao’s offensive weapons, speed, and experience.
Mikey lost a lopsided 12 round decision against Spence two years ago in March 2019, and he couldn’t do anything due to the size & boxing ability of Errol.
“I’d go somewhere 60-40,” said Mikey Garcia to ESNEWS on the Pacquiao vs. Spence fight in favoring Errol to win.
“The youth, the size, the skills that are going to help him, so I say 60-40 also,” said Mikey about Errol.
Former four-division world champion Mikey has been tirelessly chasing a fight against Pacquiao for the past two years, but it hasn’t happened.
Now all Mikey can hope for is to get lucky if Pacquiao somehow wins. But, if Spence sends him into retirement, as he’s planning on doing, Mikey will have to look in another direction for a mega-payday.
“It’s not an easy fight either; it’s not an easy fight for Spence,” said Mikey. “Pacquiao has a lot in his arsenal; he’s got a lot of experience, he’s quick, footwork, fast hands, power.
“It’s not an easy fight, but I feel that Spence is a fighter that can make adjustments and figure out what works and what doesn’t. I think he’s going to win in a good fight,” said Mikey.
The two years out of the ring will hurt Pacquiao because he’s been sitting out, and this isn’t the type of opponent you want to fight coming off a long rest.
Pacquiao’s best chance of victory is if Spence foolishly goes to war with him in the trenches, trying to beat the Filipino star by fighting his type of fight.
We saw Keith Thurman try that two years ago, and Pacquiao defeated him by a 12 round decision. Spence almost lost to Shawn Porter when he chose to brawl with him on the inside in their fight in 2019. You would hope that Spence has learned his lesson from that fight.
“I don’t think he stops Manny; I really doubt that,” said Mikey. It’ll go the distance. I sparred Manny a long time ago, a different time, a different weight class, a different age, a whole different thing.
“But the style of fighting [of Pacquiao] is pretty much the same. The very first punch [from Pacquiao in sparring], I felt like, ‘Oh, s***.’
“As soon as we went to the center of the ring, he threw a straight left right away. I was like, ‘Oh f***.’ That was the only time that he caught my attention like that.
