There have been preliminary discussions about a catch weight fight between welterweight contender Adrien Broner and lightweight titlist Mikey Garcia on Showtime this summer, but they are nowhere near a deal despite reports, Showtime Sports executive vice president and general manager Stephen Espinoza told on Thursday.
There have been reports circulating that the fight was nearly closed for July 29 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, but Espinoza said that was not true.
"The fight isn't made, much less a venue determined. I wish it were true. But it's not," Espinoza said from Sheffield, England, where he is for his network's broadcast of Saturday's highly anticipated fight between welterweight titlist Kell Brook and mandatory challenger Errol Spence Jr.
Broner (33-2, 24 KOs), 27, of Cincinnati, has won world titles in four weight classes: junior lightweight, lightweight, junior welterweight and welterweight. In his last fight, which Showtime televised, he won a hard-fought 10-round split decision in a welterweight bout against Adrian Granados in Cincinnati on Feb. 18. Broner spent three days in jail this week in Kenton County, Kentucky, for an outstanding warrant for disorderly conduct from an incident at a Kenton County bar in 2014.
Garcia (36-0, 30 KOs), 29, of Ventura, California, has won world titles in three divisions -- featherweight, junior lightweight and lightweight. He won a lightweight world title by crushing third-round knockout of Dejan Zlaticanin on Jan. 28, also on Showtime, in Las Vegas.
Showtime previously announced that it was planning summer fights for both Broner and Garcia, although the announcement said they would be in separate events. But things can change quickly in boxing and Espinoza said there have been conversations between the camps, even if the fight is not close to being made.
"I like the fight a lot but there's a lot more that goes into a fight getting made than a network being interested in it," Espinoza said. "I've expressed interest and from there the managers and promoters take over. So I know it's a topic of some discussion, but it's definitely not made yet and there is no venue determined. But we've got two guys who both need fights and it would be great if they can fight each other. But there are a lot of issues -- what's the money, what is the weight? That has not been determined. There's a lot to be resolved. There have been at least preliminary discussions."
Garcia has been training for a July fight, but with Broner's legal issues and looking as though he is nowhere close to welterweight, Espinoza said it remained to be seen if it's a viable bout for this summer.
"We were thinking late July for Mikey's next fight," Espinoza said. "With Adrien, we need to know how long does he need to get ready, regardless of whether he is fighting Mikey or somebody else. As it relates to a fight between Mikey and Adrien, that's the threshold question -- is there a weight they could meet at? That's has not been resolved. It's in early discussions. It may not go further than that. They may discover the weight is insurmountable."
