By CARLO ANOLIN
American welterweight contender Mikey Garcia isn’t rushing anything as far as his reported fight with Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao is concerned.
Garcia, in an interview with FightHype.com, gave recent updates regarding the bout and said the negotiation between the two camps has been going back-and-forth.
“It just takes a long time, just the way it is,” said Garcia in a YouTube video posted Sunday, March 21, reiterating that “nothing has been official” yet.
“We want to be back May [or] June, y’know, this summer. So I’ll definitely be back. If not Manny, then I’ll find somebody, someone else. I’ll find something to get back. But I definitely want to be back.”
Recent reports disclosed that Pacquiao, 42, is indeed leaning towards the 33-year-old American aside from undefeated WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford.
Just like Garcia, the Filipino eight-division world boxing champion is also eyeing a comeback in May, a source earlier told Bulletin-Tempo.
Garcia last saw action in February last year with a unanimous decision victory against Pacquiao’s former foe in Jessie Vargas to improve at 40-1 slate on top of 30 knockouts.
Pacquiao, for his part, has not fought since scoring a split decision win over Keith Thurman in July 2019 to climb up at 62-7-2 record with 39 KOs.
In late January, the Filipino boxer-turned-senator was stripped of his WBA super welterweight belt and was declared “champion in recess” due to inactivity.
