OXNARD ? Where is Edward Snowden when Mikey Garcia needs him?
The fact that Garcia is one of the world?s best five boxers is one of the world?s few remaining secrets, unless you read Ring Magazine.
If Garcia was more self-celebratory, he could go Richard Sherman on us. He isn?t. Instead, he?s trying to go Peyton Manning. This is the year of his hurry-up offense.
He bought a Charger and a Viper and is taking test runs at Fontana and Irwindale. ?I didn?t go that fast at Fontana,? he said, grinning. ?Only about 120.?
He is planning to fight four times in this calendar year, beginning Saturday night in New York against Juan Carlos Burgos.
And when he sat at ringside, in Macau, and watched Manny Pacquiao dominate Brandon Rios last November, Garcia beckoned Bruce Trampler, Top Rank?s matchmaker.
?Can you get me that fight later?? Garcia asked him.
But not much later.
Garcia, even though he?s fighting at 130 pounds, wants Pacquiao, the champ at 147.
He thinks he can be ready by the end of this year or the beginning of the next.
It?s urgent. Not just because Pacquiao is winding down, but because Garcia is 33-0 with 28 knockouts and wants to get out of this game with health, wealth and wisdom.
To do that, he needs a few jackpots. Pacquiao is where the money is.
?The fighters aren?t there at his weight class,? said Robert Garcia, Mikey?s trainer and older brother. ?I don?t see a great fight there. Why even stay? This is a business. But we aren?t going to skip steps.?
Pacquiao, 35, was a featherweight when he was 24. Garcia is 28. If he were to beat Burgos at 130, then win at 135 and 140, he doesn?t see a problem. Robert Garcia points out that Pacquiao is usually walking around at 143 or so anyway.
The fight makes undisputed sense. Both are Top Rank fighters. Freddie Roach is still Pacquiao?s trainer and is still contemptuous of Alex Ariza, the strength coach for Robert Garcia?s fighters. Ariza kicked Roach, or kicked at him, during a pre-fight argument in Macau.
