Many boxing pundits, including those closest to Garcia, wanted him to shift his focus elsewhere as he would be jumping up two weight classes to battle one of the fastest rising stars of the sport. The name that has come up most prominently for the four-division world champion was Manny Pacquiao, who is closer in weight and arguably still a bigger star than Spence. The idea of a Pacquiao-Garcia fight has picked up some steam and has gotten to the point where Pacquiao rival Floyd Mayweather said he was going to give the Filipino senator a call and try to secure a deal that would see Garcia and Pacquiao square off. The only person who isn’t keen to the idea of a Garcia vs. Pacquiao clash is the unified lightweight champion.
“My dad actually likes that idea better (than Errol Spence),” Garcia told Fighthype.com. “My dad likes that idea and that would probably be better as far as the business goes, but that (fight) doesn’t do it for me right now.”
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Pacquiao returned after a one-year layoff and notched a seventh-round knockout win of Lucas Matthysse in July. He demonstrated that he still has something left in the gas tank against Matthysse with a dominant performance, albeit against a fading fighter. Nevertheless, Pacquiao provides Garcia the high profile fight he desires and wouldn’t have climb up two weight classes. Unfortunately, Pacquiao is 39 years of age and doesn’t have many fights left in his career, so Garcia would have to take the fight sooner rather than later if the Spence fight doesn’t come to fruition.
“That’s the thing, if I don’t take it right now, I miss out on the opportunity," Garcia said.
It appears that, as of right now, Garcia is totally fine missing out on a fight with a living legend.
