Errol Spence Tougher Fight Than Vasyl Lomachenko, Floyd Mayweather Warns Mikey Garcia
Former five-division champion Floyd Mayweather warned Mikey Garcia that Errol Spence Jr. is a tougher fight than Vasyl Lomachenko.
Garcia defeated Robert Easter Jr. via unanimous decision last month to win the International Boxing Federation (IBF) lightweight title — his second belt in the weight class.
A dream title unification bout with pound-for-pound king and World Boxing Association lightweight champion Lomachenko could be on the horizon, but it will have to wait for now as the Ukrainian will challenge the winner of the World Boxing Organization title bout between Ray Beltran and Jose Pedraza in December.
Because of this, Garcia plans on moving up not one, but two divisions to face arguably the most dangerous welterweight in IBF champion Spence.
"As far as the remainder of this year we can’t make the fight with him [Lomachenko]," Garcia said last week. "That is why we are looking at other options, such as the fight with Spence at 147 (pounds). If all goes well, we can make the fight with Lomachenko next year."
"I aspire for the bigger fights, the bigger weights and now I believe is the opportunity to pursue another title in another division. And there is nothing better than the best champion in the division, the most dangerous in the division," he said.
However, Mayweather, who has sparred with Spence in the past, believes the Long Island native would be a tough fight for Garcia.
He feels Lomachenko is more beatable, citing how the 30-year-old has a weakness for body shots and was notably knocked down for the first time in his professional career during his title win against Jorge Linares in May.
"With the Errol Spence fight, that’s tough, you know, that’s a tough fight for him [Garcia]. That’s definitely a tough fight for him," Mayweather said, as quoted on Ring News 24. "His chances of beating Lomachenko are much better than his chances of beating Errol Spence."
"Lomachenko can’t take it to the body. Lomachenko can’t take it to the body and we already have seen that Lomachenko got knocked down [against Linares] and he didn’t even get hit hard. So anything can happen in the sport of boxing," he said.
Both fights would undoubtedly be tough for Garcia but Spence would naturally be the tougher one because of the size difference. Lomachenko on the other hand, used to fight at junior lightweight along with Garcia as the two have been slated to fight for a while but it's yet to happen due to various reasons.
Lomachenko's manager Egis Klimas though, is adamant that Lomachenko wants to fight Garcia, but is also willing to wait until next year.
"We want that fight with Mikey Garcia. But Mikey Garcia is always walking out of that," Klimas said last week. "We want the fight with Mikey Garcia. Let me repeat it two times -- we want the fight. Lomachenko wants to fight Mikey Garcia. ... Always excuses, excuses."
"If he wants to come over, his management can talk to our management. We can find a solution. I'm sure the fight can be made together with ESPN and Showtime to do a pay-per-view fight [together]. If he wants to fight a welterweight, let him fight a welterweight in his next fight. He can keep his belts and unify next year," Klimas added.
© Copyright IBTimes 2024. All rights reserved.