As Mikey Garcia (37-0, 30 KOs) gets prepared to challenge IBF junior welterweight champion Sergey Lipinets (13-0, 10 KOs) for his strap, the two fighters hold their kickoff presser to announce their Feb. 10 fight. You can catch the full press conference above, courtesy of FightHub TV.
Garcia on why he's taking this fight as opposed to other options:
"Golden Boy and I were in discussions to secure the [Jorge] Linares fight, but they themselves also suggested that we could wait...they feel the financial aspect of the sport could be better if we wait...and then when that's not on the table, what else is next for me? I mean, we looked at other options but, uh, the opportunity to become a four division champion obviously excited me more, and that's why we're here."
"I still plan on fighting Linares, and I would love to fight him at 135. He says he's willing to go to '40, but I would prefer we fight at '35. So this is the task in front of me first, I gotta get through this before I can look forward to other fights but I still plan on getting that fight. Hopefully we can secure that in the upcoming year."
Lipinets on what made him what this fight right now:
"Well it's a catch-22. If I were to take an easy fight, everybody would've said 'oh, you've taken an easy fight, you're fighting lesser opposition.' I'm taking a great challenge in Mikey Garcia and everybody saying either 'you're not ready' or 'why are you taking that tough of a fight?' So you can't please everybody."