Arum gives Mikey Garcia ultimatum to fight Lomachenko at 135 as B-side

Arum gives Mikey Garcia ultimatum to fight Lomachenko at 135 as B-side

Arum gives Mikey Garcia ultimatum to fight Lomachenko at 135 as B-side

Arum gives Mikey Garcia ultimatum to fight Lomachenko at 135 as B-side

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Bob Arum says Mikey Garcia has hurt his marketability with his loss to Errol Spence, and he’s now the B-side for a potential unification fight with Vasiliy Lomachenko. Further, the Top Rank CEO Arum states that Mikey will need to come down to 135 for him to get the fight with WBA/WBO lightweight champion Lomachenko (12-1, 9 KOs). That is to say, there won’t be a catch-weight for the fight, and it won’t take place at 140.

By Arum saying that Mikey would need to be the B-side for the Lomachenko fight, he’s basically saying he doesn’t want the fight for Loma. For Arum to say that Lomachenko would be the A-side in the negotiation, that’s a big hint that he’s interested in making the unification. You can’t blame Arum though for not wanting to make the fight. There’s too much risk for Lomachenko.

Showing great courage, Garcia (39-1, 30 Kos) put in a brave effort in losing to IBF welterweight Errol Spence Jr. (25-0, 21 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision on March 16. Garcia, 31, moved up two weight classes from lightweight to welterweight to make the fight happen with Errol.

“Mikey Garcia has hurt his marketability because of the fight he had with Errol Spence,” Arum said to Fighthype. “But, he’s still an elite fighter, we would welcome a fight between him and Lomachenko if it was at 135.”

Spence vs. Garcia brought in over 400,000 pay-per-view buys on Fox Sports PPV. That’s hardly a case of Mikey hurting his marketability, is it? Moreover, Mikey is even more in demand than he was before. He’s got excellent options for fights at 135, 140 and 147. With one good win under Mikey’s belt, he’ll be in position to challenge the winner of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Keith Thurman fight.

“There’s never been any serious discussions on their end reaching out to me for discussions to discuss a fight with Loma,” Mikey said to Fighthype.

Mikey says Top Rank has never approached him for serious discussions for a fight with Lomachenko. Arum is talking about wanting the fight between Loma and Garcia, but he’s not following through to put the fight together.

Lomachenko defends against former WBA lightweight champion Anthony Crolla (34-6-3, 13 KOs) this Friday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The fight can be seen on ESPN+. Lomachenko is expected to win the fight. Arum can look to negotiate with Mikey afterwards to show that he wants to make the fight.

“The A-side would be Lomachenko now. Whoever is A-side and B-side is Mayweather schmuck talk,” Arum said. “In other words, it’s two fighters that have gloves that weigh the same, and they go in the ring. There’s no A-side and B-side. When they go in the ring, they’re equal,”Arum said.

It’s not going to be equal if Mikey is the B-side and Lomachenko is the A-side.

“I think he did, yeah,” Arum said when asked if Mikey made a mistake in taking the fight with Spence. “I always thought it was a ridiculous fight.”