Regis Progais says Mikey Garcia fight not happening after loss to Sandor Martin

By Boxing News - 10/17/2021 - Comments

By Dan Ambrose: Regis Prograis says he’s no longer planning on fighting Mikey Garcia next after watching him lose to a 10 round majority decision to EBU light welterweight champion Sandor Martin in their 145-lb catchweight fight last Saturday night at the Chukchansi Park, Fresno, California.

The defeat by Mikey may have cost Prograis millions that would have made had the two of them fought on DAZN.

Sandor was supposed to have been a tune-up to set up a much bigger fight between Mikey and Prograis for early 2022, but that’s now history after the shocking defeat for the former four-division champion.

Prograis says Mikey fight “NOT happening”

Mikey not going to fight me. That’s not happening anymore,” said Regis Prograis on Twitter in reaction to Mikey losing to Sandor.

The scores were 95-95, 97-93, and 97-93. Dan Ambrose scored the fight 99-91 for Sandor. Mikey fought well enough to win one round – the ninth, and that’s it.

Image: Regis Progais says Mikey Garcia fight not happening after loss to Sandor Martin

Promoter Eddie Hearn doesn’t know where Mikey can go now that he’s been beaten by fringe 140-pound contender Sandor.

Interestingly, Hearn wasn’t even banging the drum for an immediate rematch between Mikey and Sandor, as he was for Anthony Joshua following his loss to Oleksandr Usyk.

For Hearn not to be chomping at the bit for an immediate Mikey vs. Sandor rematch it suggests that he might not believe he’s capable of winning.

It would be interesting to know if Hearn has an escape clause in Mikey’s contract to allow Matchroom Boxing to release him after this loss. After this loss, does Hearn want to keep Mikey as part of his stable?

Undoubtedly, Mikey looked entirely shot and not capable of beating Sandor in a second fight or ANY top 140-lb contender, for that matter.

Mikey looked so utterly bad that he would likely lose to some of the bottom feeders in the light welterweight division right now.

What does Hearn do with Mikey?

With his #12 WBO ranking, Sandor fits the definition of a bottom feeder at 140, and Mikey was outclassed by him. It’s doubtful that Mikey could beat these fringe contenders, Mario Barrios, and Jeremia Ponce.

If you want to be charitable, you can give him the fifth, but that’s an enormous reach because Sandor was machine-gunning the slower Mikey with quick shots in that round.

Hearn states that the former four-division world champion Mikey (40-2, 30 KOs) was a huge favorite going into the 145-lb catchweight fight with the inexperienced EBU 140-lb champion Sandor (39-2, 13 KOs), and it should have been a fight that he won.

Instead, Mikey lost, and Hearn doesn’t know the next move for the 33-year-old. Hearn can TRY to negotiate a rematch, but there was no rematch clause. Sandor will want a better deal for a second fight, and is that a smart move for Mikey?

I mean, the way that Sandor outboxed Mikey, using his superior hand speed, movement, and defensive skills, it’s easy to predict that the Spanish fighter will do the same thing in the rematch.

In other words, it’s a wrong style match-up for Mikey, and he might better off absorbing the loss and moving on. If Regis Prograis is still willing to fight Mikey after last Saturday, that would be the better option for him.

Hearn in disbelief over Mikey’s loss

“I can’t believe it. And  I knew Sandor Martin could fight,” said Eddie Hearn to iFL TV on Mikey Garcia’s loss. “I thought Mikey looked lackluster, he didn’t look sharp, and I thought Sandor Martin boxed brilliantly.

Image: Regis Progais says Mikey Garcia fight not happening after loss to Sandor Martin

“I’m happy in a way that they gave him the fight because he won the fight, let’s be honest,” said Hearn about Sandor’s performance. “If they wouldn’t have given him the fight, it wouldn’t have been fair.

“So, it’s just a massive win for Spanish boxing. It’s huge. It’s the biggest win ever for Spain, and I just can’t believe it. And it’s a total shock here. Tonight was an amazing crowd, a terrific atmosphere, all for Mikey, and he got beat.

“It’s a huge upset. No, NO rematch clause, no title on the line,” said Hearn when asked if there was a rematch clause for the Mikey vs. Sandor fight. “It’s just a non-title fight. I don’t know.

“Sandor Martin is sitting there now saying, ‘Give me the big fights,’ you know? He’s in an unbelievable position. Our Matchroom Spain fighter, it’s such a huge win for him and Spanish boxing. It’s unbelievable, massive,” said a stunned Hearn.

Eddie will have to make a big decision in what to do with Mikey because it might be a waste of time to put him back in with Sandor.

I wouldn’t do it if I were Hearn because it’s evident that Mikey will lose the rematch with Sandor in the same one-sided way. Mikey is too slow, too weak, and too old to beat Martin.

The way Mikey looked last Saturday night, he would lose to Sandor even if they fought 100 times.

Did Mikey overlook Sandor Martin?

“It’s always a danger,” said Hearn about Mikey taking a keep-warm fight to get the cobwebs off from a year and a half of inactivity. “He [Mikey] wanted to fight, and he needed to fight because he’s been out for 19 or 20 months.

Image: Regis Progais says Mikey Garcia fight not happening after loss to Sandor Martin

You’ve got to be more professional to say that I can’t get up for a keep busy fight,”  Hearn said about Mikey’s fight with Sandor Martin being a keep busy fight. “You haven’t got a fight, so you need to fight.

“That should be a fight that he [Mikey] goes into as a massive favorite, which he was and win the fight and he lost. I mean, it’s a huge upset,” said Hearn on Mikey’s crushing defeat at the hands of Sandor Martin.

Dan Ambrose doesn’t view Mikey’s loss to Sandor being as a result of him overlooking the Spaniard. It was more of a case of inactivity, weight gain, aging, and fighting in a division that his slight frame doesn’t support.

Sandor was naturally bigger and faster than Mikey, and that’s something that wouldn’t change even if he’d been active all these years. At 5’6″, Mikey lacks the frame to be fighting at 140 or 147. He’s too small.

When Mikey was at his best, he competed at 126, using his heavy hands to dominate his weaker opposition. But in moving up to 140 and 147, Mikey’s power hasn’t carried up with him to those weight classes. Hence, he was dominated by Errol Spence Jr. and Sandor.

Even against the shot to pieces Jessie Vargas, Mikey looked terrible in winning a 12 round decision in February 2020. If Vargas had anything left in the tank, he would have easily beaten Mikey as well.

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