Garcia-Commey deal reached, no purse bid

Mikey Garcia, holder of the WBC and IBF lightweight titles, may be staying at 135 for one more fight, leaving a desired fight with welterweight Errol Spence Jr for a later date.

ESPN reports that Garcia and Richard Commey, his IBF mandatory challenger, have reached a deal for a fight, avoiding a purse bid that was scheduled for today. Promoter Lou DiBella, who handles Commey, called it a “real deal.”

So it looks like, while not guaranteed, Garcia (39-0, 30 KO) will stay at lightweight for the time being. Conversation around the Spence-Garcia idea never really caught fire, with at least as much doubt that Garcia could compete at 147 with a fighter like Spence as there were encouraging words written and thrown about on social. Perhaps, as a result, Spence-Garcia just isn’t hot enough yet.

I don’t know that a win over Commey (27-2, 24 KO) would change that, but Commey is no joke, a legitimate lightweight contender with narrow losses to Robert Easter Jr and Denis Shafikov, the latter on the road in Russia. Styles make fights, and Commey could have the sort of style — and power — to give Mikey trouble.