After talks of a possible Mikey Garcia vs. Adrien Broner fight were made public, Showtime officials have said that it would be a bit of a longshot to make that fight reality. A week later, the fight is now official.
The two boxers will meet later this summer, on July 29, at a venue to be determined. Despite Garcia being a world champion at 135 pounds, the fight will be contested at 140 pounds.
In a teleconference, Garcia said he looks forward to the fight against the former four-time champion after not being able to secure a unification bout.
"I haven't fought anyone who's been champion in four divisions," Garcia said. "There's no one else available who has that résumé. It's the biggest fight available for me right now. Originally, my plans were to unify at 135. If that was not available I'd look for big names to defend my title against at lightweight, but that was not quite available and Adrien Broner is a much bigger name, a bigger star, so it made more sense to go and pursue the Adrien Broner fight than making a title defense. I would like to come back down to lightweight and unify or defend my title [after this] before I permanently move up. If unification matches are available at 135, that's what I will do."
It is welcome news for Broner that he gets a high-profile fight after being in the news in the past few months for non-boxing related reasons. Broner has already fought this year, a split decision victory over Adrian Granados back in February. Garcia became a three-division champion when he defeated Dejan Zlaticanin back in January to win the WBC lightweight champion.
While no venue has been decided for this fight, Showtime is in talks to possibly have the Barclays Center in New York City, a frequent home to Showtime-televised boxing cards, be the host.
