Mikey Garcia was pouring on the praise of Floyd Mayweather Jr. today, calling him the ‘best ever’ fighter that he’s ever seen and expressing interest in sharing the ring with him.
There have been rumors that the former six-division world champion Mayweather will be fighting Mikey in the headliner of an exhibition bout on December 9th on Showtime PPV in Las Vegas.
The former four-division world champion Mikey says he hasn’t been contacted by anyone in Mayweather’s team about a potential fight against him in December, but he would be open to the idea.
Mikey, 35, hasn’t fought since his loss to Sandor Martin in 2021, and he could get a nice payday if the 46-year-old Mayweather chose him as his opponent for Showtime’s fight in December.
The rumored undercard fights are Keith Thurman vs. Eimantas Stanionis & Danny Garcia vs. Erislandy Lara.
“I don’t know how people start rumors like that. Like I said, I’m just here to work out a little bit,” said Mikey Garcia to ESNEWS about the rumors of him facing Floyd Mayweather Jr. on December 9th.
“I was getting a little lazy, and I wanted to come back to the gym and lose a little bit of weight and get in shape and have some time for some of the younger fighters and teach them something and motivate them a little bit.
“To get the likes, get the hits, and get the clicks,” Mikey said about why people started the rumors of him fighting Mayweather. “I wonder who started it. I think I know who the first one that I saw online. I don’t know him personally.”
It would be interesting if Mikey is just pretending that he’s not fighting Mayweather Jr. so that he’s not spoiling the surprise for the boxing world. After all, it would be Mayweather’s side that would be making the announcement of the fight, and they wouldn’t want Mikey to spoil it.
The fact that Mikey is getting off his backside to return to training after two solid years just after the rumor started seems a little strange.
“I think he interpreted you and I speaking here a week ago after my training,” said Mikey. “He gives his opinion, and then somebody else here’s him, and they take it another step. It’s like telephoning.
“I’m here to work out a little bit. I don’t have nothing. I don’t have any plans on fighting or anything like that. If they did call me, we could have that conversation,” said Mikey.
It’s hard to imagine that Mikey wouldn’t be interested in returning to the ring because he’s only 35, and can make big money if he returned to the 135-lb division, where he’d had a lot of success. He wouldn’t need Mayweather if he fought at 135, as he could potentially get a big-money fight with Gervonta Davis or Vasily Lomachenko. Mikey must be rich not to be considering that idea because it beats waiting for Mayweather to call.
“I’ve had reporters hit me up, ‘Is there any truths to this? It’s all just rumors. They did ask me. ‘Is there any truth to this? Is there any possibility?’ This is all rumors. I haven’t talked to anybody about it,” said Mikey.
“Hit me up,” said Mikey when asked what message he had for Mayweather. “From my understanding and my experience and boxing knowledge, I think he’s the best I’ve ever seen,” said Mikey about Mayweather.
“I have a lot of respect for him and admire him a lot for the way he fought and the dominant performances he’s had over great fighters. You got to respect the guy, but as far as a fight, I haven’t heard anything from anybody in their camp.
“It just happens coincidentally that I started coming to the gym right when all this was going around. From what I know, he [Mayweather] is the greatest boxer of all time. To be able to dominate the sport for so long and to make it so easy.
“He fought so many champions and undisputed champions and made them look like they were nothing.
“It’s a little later in time than I would have wanted it to happen,” said Mikey when asked if he’d be open to fighting the 44-year-old Manny Pacquiao. “That would be exciting just to share the ring with him with Floyd or Manny.
“Even though that wouldn’t be the best fight possible at this age, but it would be fun just to be in the ring with them. I don’t think that’s anything possible at this point. If it did cross their minds, give me a call,” said Mikey about Mayweather.
