The World Boxing Council are saying WBC lightweight champion Mikey Garcia (38-0, 30 KOs) will face IBF champion Robert Easter Jr. (21-0, 14 KOs) next in a unification fight. Mikey, 30, recently vacated his IBF light welterweight title and decided to move back down to 135 to defend his WBC title.
Mikey wants to unify the division, and it appears he’s given up on his dream of moving up to welterweight and going after IBF champion Errol Spence Jr.
If Mikey gets past the 5’11” Easter Jr., then he’ll probably go after the winner of the Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Jorge Linares fight. Linares is the WBA belt holder. Mikey was going to fight him before he got the idea of moving up to light welterweight to fight IBF champion Sergey Lipinets. Mikey beat Lipinets by a 12 round unanimous decision on March 10, but the fight was a lot closer than many boxing fans expected it to be. Mikey won the fight by the scores 116-111, 117-110 and 117-110, but the fight looked a heck of a lot closer. Moreover, Mikey took a lot of punishment in winning the fight. His face was badly bruised and swollen after the contest.
Mikey did NOT look like the winner in the fight. The thing is, Mikey wasn’t facing the guy that is the best fighter in the light welterweight division. Regis Prograis is viewed as the best fighter at 140 followed by Jose Ramirez. Mikey was smart not to target either of those guys, because he might have been knocked out. Prograis would have likely been a step too far for Mikey, and he was tactical the way he chose not to fight him. Mikey wanted to win a fourth division world title, so he went after Lipinets.
You can argue that Mikey cherry-picked a vulnerable champion to win a fourth title in the same way Adrien Broner fought vulnerable fighters to win 4 division world titles. Manny Pacquiao did the same thing in winning 8 division world titles. He beat a bunch of vulnerable guys. It would have been more interesting if Mkey had waited until Prograis had fought Ramirez before he went after a world title at 140. The winner of the Prograis vs. Ramirez will show who the best fighter is in the light welterweight division. If Mikey could fight the winner of that fight, he will have proved something.
Once Mikey fights Easter Jr. and the Linares vs. Lomachenko fight, there won’t be anyone special for him to fight in the division. The division will be empty. If Mikey wants to stay a lightweight, he won’t have a lot of options.
In other boxing news, the WBC ordered #2 WBC Luke Campbell (17-2, 14 KOs) to face #1 Yvan Mendy (40-4-1, 19 KOs) in a final eliminator. There will be a purse bid on May 27 if the management for the two fighters is unable to negotiate the fight. Mendy, 32, defeated Campbell by a 12 round split decision in December 2015. Since then, Mendy has looked good in winning his last seven fights against beatable opposition. Mendy’s last win came against Jesus Arevalo in December of last year in an 8th round knockout. 2012 Olympic gold medalist Campbell lost his last fight to Jorge Linares by a 12 round split decision last September. Campbell and his promoter Eddie Hearn believe he should have been given the win. The judges felt that Linares fought better in the first four and last four rounds of the fight.
Campbell wants to be a world champion, but he might be picking the wrong guy in Mendy to put himself in position for a world title. Mendy had Campbell’s number the last time they fought and it’s quite possible he still does. Campbell is a good fighter, but he’s vulnerable when he’s facing an opponent with power.