Pacquiao-Garcia eyed in May

Don’t look now but the seemingly outrageous matchup involving world welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao and Ryan “KingRy” Garcia can take place as early as May.

“There are ongoing talks for a fight in May,” Sean Gibbons, the head of the Pacquiao-owned MP Promotions told Daily Tribune yesterday.

Though September has been targeted owing to the pandemic, Gibbons revealed that if the conditions are right, the fight could happen in the next few months.

“Ryan’s got the height, he’s young and he hits hard. It’s not really an easy fight for Pacquiao,” Gibbons said, noting that the Filipino star is 42 and Garcia, almost 20 years younger, is fresh and ambitious.

Garcia (21-0 with 18 KOs) came out on social media two days ago, announcing in his Instagram account that he and the eight-division champion are on a collision course.
Ringsiders were quick to dismiss Garcia’s bold bid but the idea of pitting them against each other is not as ludicrous as it appears.

Remember that when it was floated in mid-2008 that Pacquiao, then a lightweight (135-pounder), might meet Oscar de la Hoya, a super-welter (154-pounder), almost everyone went bananas.

A few months later, what appeared to be a cartoon-like creation, turned into reality with Pacquiao sending the Golden Boy into retirement.

The long-armed Garcia just became the interim World Boxing Council 135-lb titlist and at 5-foot-10, at least four inches taller than Pacquiao, the addition of at least ten pounds should jack up the California-born puncher’s power supply.

While Pacquiao enjoys the edge in experience, the fighting lawmaker is no longer as busy as Garcia.

By the time he clashes with Garcia in May, Pacquiao would be almost two years removed from his last fight.

But the matchup isn’t totally absurd.

“I think it’s a mismatch but it is a marketable fight,” said Filipino promoter JC Mananquil.

As the old boxing adage says, if it makes money, it makes sense.