Mikey Garcia and Vasyl Lomachenko meet and verbally agree to fight at 135 lb

Wait, is this real life? That media didn't embed properly.

 

Kiwi is mod material.

 

This. I think Loma is a terrible matchup for Mikey. Forget all this size business. Skills pay the bills and Loma has it in spades.

 

GK BOX is also banned, I wonder why.

 

I believe he got banned before the Khan - Faryal tweets started circulating, but I could be wrong.

 

Is Mikey attending Lomachenko's fight this weekend? I would hope that Mr. Arum is open minded to making this fight happen. There may be some lingering tension between him and Mikey, but at the same time I don't think it's fair to say Top Rank robbed Mikey of 2 years of his career. Mikey had hinted that he needed that time off to recharge his batteries so to speak and come back to the sport with a passion.

If both Lomachenko and Mikey are interested in making this fight happen, I'd hope that Bob wouldn't prevent the fight from happening. There are some obstacles here, but Mikey has stated that he is a free agent, even in their meeting yesterday when he walked into the room to meet Lomachenko they said "Showtime fighter" but Mikey responded by saying something like only for the Broner fight, suggesting he's be open to possibly fighting for other networks.

Mikey specifically talked about the fight being a PPV and given that Lomachenko was an HBO fighter earlier this year, before the recent ESPN deal that Top Rank has made, I think Mikey would be very willing to agree to fight Lomachenko on an HBO PPV or possibly even a Top Rank PPV. I doubt Mikey will fight on ESPN, as he's looking to become a PPV star and needs a dance partner like Lomachenko.

HBO mentioned Mikey as a possible opponent for Lomachenko in the postfight of his last fight which was on HBO. It would be a shame if the recent Top Rank ESPN deal prevents this fight from being made. Certainly with Lomachenko's history as an HBO fighter and given Mikey's free agency, I don't see why this fight can't be made as a HBO PPV later this year. To the poster saying that Mikey is ready to demand Showtime, I don't think that's true, Mikey and Robert Garcia have said repeatedly said that he is a free agent and has only been fighting on Showtime on a per fight basis. Considering the issues that Robert Garcia cited in regard to how SHowtime treated Mikey during fight week of Broner, I don't think Robert or Mikey would have any qualms about fighting on an HBO PPV for a fight with Lomachenko. The biggest obstacle to make this fight doesn't seem to be an unwillingness of Mikey to part with Showtime, but rather it's Top Rank and whether or not Bob Arum will be willing to work with Mikey. If Mikey is in town for Lomachenko's fight, which it sounds like he will be, maybe Mikey could get a chance to sit down with Mr. Arum and see if they can work out a deal for a PPV between himself and Lomachenko.

I think Arum would be much more willing to allow Lomachenko to fight on HBO as opposed to Showtime, I doubt Mikey will want to fight him on ESPN though. Do you think Arum would allow HBO to broadcast the fight as a PPV? In the past we've also seen Top Rank PPVs. I think those two options Bob would be much more willing to agree to, as I don't think anyone would expect Bob would allow Lomachenko to fight on Showtime. The idea though that Mikey would demand it be on Showtime just doesn't seem to be the case. Hopefully they can agree to terms if Mikey is in town this weekend. Given any lingering tension between Arum and Mikey, personally I think it makes more sense as an HBO PPV rather than Top Rank run PPV. I don't think Mikey would have any problem fighting on HBO if it were a PPV event, but he may be less inclined to fight on a Top Rank PPV or ESPN. Mikey sees this fight as a PPV worthy event and I think he's right. Lomachenko had been fighting on regular HBO and now ESPN for goodness sake, if he is victorious this weekend, it's a smart business decision for Lomachenko to challenge himself vs a proven undefeated star in Mikey and become a PPV star with Mikey. It would be a dream for both of them to headline a PPV and this is the perfect matchup that the fans would love to see. As much as I love free TV, this fight doesn't belong on ESPN or even regular HBO. This is a PPV Worthy attraction, both are big names in the sport, especially now that Mikey has proven himself with how he handled Broner. Lets hope the parties can work out a deal and make this fight happen at 135 for later this year.

 

Garcia I'd
Easy money

 

More like if it happens Arum will have to run it and decide every term and condition, or he'll have no part of it because it won't happen. His committment to ESPN makes it easier for him to dig his heels in and keep to his way, but because Mikey's a free agent I don't think the fight is impossible. Yeah Arum's prevented a lot of fights, but a few of the really big ones involving his guys against others slip through the cracks.

 

That would be an interesting fight since I don't see Chenko befuddling Garcia with his antics as he did other recent fighters.

 

I didn't 'like' this because I agree this should be ppv, it shouldn't, ppv's ruined boxing, and only really big sellers like Mayweather, Pac, and Canelo should be on ppv. But Loma-Garcia on HBO might make sense. Mikey has established a good relationship with Showtime and would prefer it there but he's NOT contractually committed to them, so there's no direct 'network' issue, it's only a promoter issue. The promoter Arum's network is ESPN, so if Arum insists on ESPN and sure doesn't want one of his guys on a Showtime/PBC show while Mikey would prefer not to fight on a Top Rank produced ESPN show, sure making it on neutral ground on (regular) HBO sounds reasonable. Arum hasn't refused to work with HBO again has he?

I don't think the network will be what possibly prevents the fight though. Mikey as a promotional and network free agent should be willing to fight on ESPN, and commercial TV would be great for it. What's more important will be Mikey getting the well more than $1 million purse he deserves and parity with Loma (or very close to it), as well as not having to agree to other conditions, like future fight options (as Arum had on Horn for beating Pac).