After much deliberation, Mikey Garcia will have to wait another month to become a four-division world champion.
Garcia was set to challenge for Sergey Lipinets' IBF junior welterweight title on February 10 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, but Lipinets suffered a hand injury. Although Lipinets did not suffer a broken hand, the injury was severe enough to force Showtime and Premier Boxing Champions to postpone the fight. The fight now has a new date venue: March 10 at the Freeman Coliseum.
The entire card will proceed as previously planned, which means the co-main event, a WBA junior welterweight title fight between Rances Barthelemy and Kiryl Relikh. The fight is a rematch from their first encounter last May, which saw Barthelemy win by unanimous decision (115-111, 116-110, 117-111).
Lipinets won the title in his 13th pro fight when he defeated Akihiro Kondo by unanimous decision.
If Garcia defeats Lipinets and wins the IBF title, he becomes the 17th man in boxing history to win a world title in four different weight classes. Garcia could also join an even more exclusive club, becoming the third fighter in modern history to become world champion at 126, 130, 135 and 140 pounds, joining Juan Manuel Marquez and Manny Pacquiao.
The new date now means that it will conflict with the March 10 Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card headlined by Oscar Valdez's fourth WBO featherweight title defense against former super bantamweight world champion Scott Quigg.
