Mikey Garcia wants to be taken seriously at 147 pounds, no matter what the cost

After defeating Robert Easter Jr. in 2018 to retain the WBC lightweight title and add the IBF championship to his collection, Garcia was recognized as one of the top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in the sport. He could have stayed at 135 pounds, padded his already impressive resume and sought to become the undisputed lightweight champion. 

But he didn’t. 

Instead, he stated that he wanted the biggest challenge available — both literally and figuratively. And that challenge was the IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. 

“Has he gone mad?” said virtually everyone. 

Perhaps. He heard it from fans, fellow fighters and even his own family. Spence was a lethal combination of too big, too strong and too skilled for Garcia. Yet he ignored the naysayers because he wanted to prove his greatness. Protecting the goose egg on his record would never get him recognized as the pound-for-pound best fighter in the sport. Moving up two weight classes and challenging boxing’s boogeyman would. 

But Spence would win their fight last March in a rout as Garcia struggled mightily trying to overcome the physical advantages of his opponent. Afterward, everyone said he dared to be great, lost and should return to the division he once ruled. 

Garcia wasn’t hearing any of it. 

On Feb. 29, Garcia will try his hand again in the 147-pound weight class when he fights Jessie Vargas for the WBC diamond championship on DAZN. With a year to consider his options, the 32-year-old decided that he needed to prove to the world, and himself, that he can be a force in the welterweight division. 

“The best option for me was to answer those questions and all of those doubts that people have about whether I can fight at 147-pounds or not,” Garcia told DAZN News on Thursday. “Matchroom Boxing brought up Jessie Vargas as an opponent, and it’s a good matchup for me. I told my dad and my brother about it once it was already a done deal.”

The last part is key. Garcia wasn’t interested in being talked off the ledge by his family. He was ready to jump right back in. But this time, it would be different. He spent the past year staying right around 147 pounds and did everything he could to get more acclimated to the division. Garcia cited the weight being an issue for him against Spence when he attempted to “bulk up” after the weigh-in so that he could match Spence’s hydrated size. The result was a Mikey Garcia who admittedly wasn’t himself last year. 

“I was fighting my own body (against Spence),” Garcia explains. “I just wasn’t myself in there. I was weak, and I can’t pinpoint exactly one thing, but there were so many things. But Errol was on his A-game and was a better fighter all the way around. I couldn’t make any adjustments.”

Vargas is admittedly a less-skilled boxer than Spence, but he’s an adequate fighter with a size advantage that could pose a threat to the four-division champion when they step into the ring at The Star.  

“I think he’s going to try to use his size because he is the bigger guy,” Garcia said about the upcoming fight. “But he’s going to find out that it’s not going to be easy and that I’m smarter, quicker and just the overall better fighter. I expect him to be at his best, but I’ll be better.”

Vargas (29-2-2) has faced the likes of Adrien Broner, Timothy Bradley, Antonio Demarco and Manny Pacquiao in his career. He’s proven to be durable with a never-say-die attitude, as evidenced in his showdown with Bradley when he crushed the former champion with a thunderous right hand that nearly won him the fight with 20 seconds left. The one thing Vargas has hung his hat on is that he’s never been stopped in his pro career. 

“I'm not looking for a knockout, but if I were to hurt him in any of the rounds, then I’m definitely going to take advantage,” Garcia said. “That would add that cherry on top of the victory. I think people would really, you know, strongly consider me a solid welterweight.”

But Garcia has made it clear that it’s all about turning in an exceptional performance on Saturday night. Whether that be a knockout or a thorough beating of Vargas, it’s what he needs to be considered a force in the division. After that? The sky is the limit. 

Obviously, a fight with Manny Pacquiao is what entices Garcia the most. However, he wouldn’t rule out a return to the 140-pound division if the fight was big enough. Former light welterweight champion Regis Prograis — who will face Maurice Hooker on April 17 — has taken aim at Garcia along with 135-pound champion Devin Haney. 

Garcia even went as far as to suggest that he would climb to 154 pounds if the opportunity was right. 

It sounds insane, but Garcia isn’t satisfied with being one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport. He wants to be  the  best. If that means climbing the biggest mountain to slay the dragon, that’s what he is going to do. And all you can do is respect his insatiable appetite for greatness. 

“I know what I’m capable of and it’s more than what I’ve already accomplished,” said Garcia. “One more time at 147 pounds, and I think people’s opinions will change after Saturday night. They are going to see a whole different Mikey Garcia and take me serious as a real threat in this division."