Former four-weight world champion Mikey Garcia 40-1 (30) has revealed the real reason why his proposed fight against former WBA junior welterweight champion Regis Prograis 26-1 (22) didn’t happen.
“We were originally at trying to fight against Regis Prograis,” Garcia told FightHype. “The timing and schedules of DAZN and Matchroom didn’t quite fit with the budgets that were required and the dates and stuff.
“So we weren’t able to secure that.”
Californian Garcia, 33, will now take on little-known Spanish southpaw Sandor Martin 38-2 (13) at Chukchansi Park in Fresno, California on October 16.
“We wanted a big fight, but the timing wasn’t available and the dates weren’t available,” said Garcia.
“There’s a lot of things behind it. People assume and comment. They don’t know why some fights don’t happen.
“[Sandor Martin] is going to come with a lot of motivation. He’s 38-2, so I can’t expect an easy fight. I got to be prepared for this fight.
“It’s not just about this fight, but what’s going to lead after that. It’s October 16th, up here in Fresno.”
Garcia has fought just once since his 12-round drubbing at the hands of reigning WBC and IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr 27-0 (21) in March two years ago. That was a 12-round unanimous decision victory over Jessie Vargas 29-3-2 (11) in Frisco, California in February last year.
Prograis, whose lone loss came via majority decision to undisputed junior welterweight champion Josh Taylor 18-0 (13) in the final of the World Boxing Super Series two years ago, looked like a dangerous opponent after such a long layoff.
But Garcia reiterated it was timing and budgets that caused the fight to fall through.
“[Eddie Hearn] said DAZN didn’t have the budget for that type of fight [with Prograis],” continued Garcia.
“That would require a different promotion, more time to promote, and more time to build up the fight. They didn’t have the time to do that.
“So the name that he brought up was Sandor Martin. He’s a Spaniard. And he’s a southpaw and a very skilled boxer.
“He’s ranked in the top 10, so it should be a good fight. It also allows me to come back and get in the rhythm.
“I haven’t fought in a year and a half now. It’s a good fight. If we get through this very well, I’m sure the next one will be a much better fight and a much more important fight too.
“It can be a fight with Regis or possibly a title fight or something like that. This is a good fight for my return. I wanted to stay at welterweight for that.
“The idea was to fight at 147, so I could continue and have a chance of fighting for a title there. But if not, I could come down to 140.
“For this fight, Sandor Martin’s people requested that we do a catchweight of 145. They wanted 140, but we agreed on 145.”
