Promoter Bob Arum said all along, it must be admitted, how the Errol Spence/Mikey Garcia clash, which is now in the history books as Spence W12 Garcia, was nothing but a big, big mismatch, that Garcia was just too small for the reigning IBF welterweight champ. And so it turned out. It was, as Spence predicted, “a massacre,” with a brave but totally over-matched and outgunned Garcia taking a hammering, in those later rounds in particular.
Arum took to social media and, in a none too thinly veiled dig at Garcia, the Top Rank boss said that the upcoming WBO welterweight title fight between his guy Terence Crawford and British challenger Amir Khan will result in a far more competitive fight; one that Khan will actually TRY to win.
“Unlike Mikey Garcia, Amir Khan goes into a fight intending to win. His boxing ability, which is phenomenal, could give Terence Crawford fits. He is capable of pulling the upset,” Arum tweeted a while ago.
Strong, and quite shocking words from the 87 year old. Is Arum really saying that Garcia did not intend to win the Spence fight, that he didn’t try? Is this harsh, or what? As for Khan against Crawford, plenty of fight fans see the April 20th fight as a bigger mismatch than Spence/Garcia, this largely down to Khan’s ever-suspect chin, along with the wear and tear the 32 year old has picked up during his exciting roller-coaster career. What do you think, has Khan got more of a shot against Crawford than Garcia had against Spence? I think I can anticipate your answer.
Khan will give it a real go of course, he has always fought like a warrior; sometimes being too brave for his own good. But his suspect chin aside, this fight may well come down to how much the superbly talented Crawford allows his challenger to do – which might not be too much. This of course was the story of the Spence/Garcia fight but this doesn’t mean Garcia didn’t try to win.
Garcia showed heart by sticking in there to the bitter end and as such he deserves more respect.
