Boxing Champ Will Fight In UFC For The Right Money And Opponent

A world boxing champ has revealed that he is open to fighting in the UFC for the right money and opponent.

Lineal light welterweight champ Mikey Garcia is still active in boxing. However, he is also willing to try MMA and fight in the UFC.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. surprised both the boxing and MMA communities after announcing his return in 2020. Aside from teasing about finally making the rematch with Manny Pacquiao happen, the undefeated champ also mentioned a possible “cross-over fight” with the UFC.

And now, Garcia, a top welterweight who is viewed as one of Pacquiao’s next possible opponents, also confirmed that he might do MMA and fight in the UFC as well after he’s done with boxing.

In a rare interview with Elie Seckbach of EsNews, Garcia revealed that he is not ruling out a possible MMA career in the future. According to him, should he decide to pursue MMA, he would be training for “a whole year” in order to be able to compete fairly.

“Maybe, after I’m done boxing. [But] not right now, not when I’m boxing,” Garcia answered when asked if he would be interested in MMA as well.

“I would have to first be physically fit and healthy to compete. Then I would take maybe a whole year of nothing but training,” Garcia added.

Garcia also noted that he knows how hard it is to be competitive in the sport. And while he is confident that he can fight on his feet, he is willing to learn the basics in order to defend himself once the fight hits the ground.

“To really be able to at least learn some of the basics to defend myself on the ground,” Garcia said.

“I can fight on stand-up and boxing but it’s not same when it comes to the ground work, the kicks…So, I’m not gonna be able to just go in ther right now. I have to learn,” he continued.

Despite admitting that he needs time to train for an MMA fight, Garcia kept it real about what could make him change his mind when it comes to MMA talks. According to the 31-year-old veteran boxer, the “right amount of money and right opponent” might make him say “yes” to MMA in no time.

“But if the opportunity is right, right fight, the right money, yeah!” Garcia teased.

At this point, Garcia still has his eyes locked on Pacquiao as he believes that a fight with the Filipino boxing legend is still the most interesting one for him.