I am not a fan of this fight.
Ugh.
Here’s the thing. I love both Errol Spence Jr (24-0, 21 KOs) and Miguel “Mikey” Garcia (39-0, 30 KOs). I really do. On the PBC roster, they are my favorite fighters. Both of them are pound for pound elite talents among the absolute best in the sport. Mikey is a technical wizard with skills paralleled by only the likes of Vasyl Lomachenko and Terence Crawford. Spence is a technically solid fighter too, but he even more so brings an elite level of explosive athleticism. Garcia is a premier craftsman and Spence is a straight killer.
Normally I’d be salivating at a matchup between men I’d describe in those terms, but weight classes absolute exist for a reason. Mikey Garcia was a big featherweight and a normal sized junior lightweight. He is a slightly small lightweight and was clearly a dramatically undersized junior welterweight when he beat Adrien Broner. That fact didn’t rear its head negatively for two reasons. For one, Broner is just not an elite fighter. He just isn’t. Two, the controversial Cincinnati fighter also came up in weight the same way that Mikey Garcia did. Errol Spence Jr has not come up in weight. He’s a massive, strong welterweight who likely will be forced to move up to junior middleweight as he ages.
This fight is stupid. Yes, Mikey Garcia is a technical master. He will have the skills advantage versus nearly everyone he can get in the ring with. This does include Spence. The problem is that it will only be a moderate advantage as the welterweight titleholder is an extremely solid technical fighter in his own right. The Mexican-American is going to go in this fight as the much, much physically smaller man. Garcia will be pudgy in there while still being dwarfed in size. He will not have any power at the weight and, to be frank, I think Errol is faster than him too. His mild advantage in general skill level isn’t going to be anywhere near enough to make this competitive, let alone win.
What is the point of this? For Garcia, it is to chase the biggest payday he can find. Good for him, I guess. While he will likely get stopped here, from a perception standpoint he is in a can’t lose situation anyway. If he gets blown out, so what? He is supposed to lose. He can “win” the battle of public opinion just by going the distance and nicking a couple rounds. Conversely, Errol Spence Jr can’t win here. If he blows Mikey out in the first round, it was a mismatch. If he wins a wide decision, it was a mismatch and people will jeer him for not being able to finish a lightweight. If he struggles or somehow loses against all the odds, it is a disaster. His status as the elite young fighter in the welterweight division would be gone overnight. There is nothing appealing about a fight with these stakes.
I haven’t even mentioned the kicker. This is lining up to be a Showtime PPV. The ridiculous fight will cost us an additional $60 minimum, if not more. I don’t even think it will sell all that well either. PBC has done next to nothing to build up anyone on their roster, Spence and Garcia included. Ringtv is reporting that the dates PBC and Showtime are looking at would be either February 17th or 23rd. They are also saying that PBC and Showtime wouldn’t announce this until after Pacquiao-Broner is announced, another likely Premier Boxing Champions PPV for January. Yes, we are likely looking at a Haymon led PPV in December (Wilder-Fury), January, and February.
I hate everything about this.
