Mikey Garcia’s stock continues to rise after memorable knockout

Floyd Mayweather Jr. created a buzz last week when he announced he was on his way to the MGM Grand Garden to respond to Conor McGregor’s comments about a possible matchup.

By the time Mayweather walked over to the Showtime cameras, the reporters on press row forgot the retired boxing superstar was scheduled to appear.

All the attention was on Mikey Garcia after he dismantled Dejan Zlaticanin with a third-round knockout to win the WBC lightweight title last Saturday in the co-main event of the Leo Santa Cruz-Carl Frampton II card.

The announced crowd of 10,085 was in awe of Garcia’s three-punch combo that started with a vicious right uppercut and ended with a right overhand to drop Zlaticanin on the canvas for the early knockout of the year candidate that will be hard to top.

Garcia’s dominant performance has him back where he was before his 30-month hiatus. The three-division champion moved to the top of the lightweight rankings and again is considered one of the 10 best boxers on the planet.

The Mexican-American fighter was invited to Super Bowl LI’s festivities in Houston this week, and everyone wants to know what’s next for Garcia.

Garcia (36-0, 30 knockouts) said he hopes to unify the lightweight titles and has his eye on the March rematch between Jorge Linares and Anthony Crolla for the WBA belt.

“I’m hoping Linares wins,” Garcia said, “because if Crolla wins, then they’ll fight for a third time and I’ll have to wait longer. My goal is to unify belts and possibly move up to 140 (pounds) by the end of the year.”

The other champions in the 135-pound division are WBO titlist Terry Flanagan and IBF champion Robert Easter Jr.

Boxing fans are clamoring for Garcia to fight one of Top Rank’s stars, either Vasyl Lomachenko or Terence Crawford.

Garcia doesn’t have a promoter, and that could make things easier when negotiating fights with promotional companies. That might not be the case when it comes to Top Rank fighters.

Top Rank used to promote Garcia, and the sides had a falling out over a contract dispute that went to court and took the boxer out of action for 2½ years.

“A fight with Lomachenko would be awesome,” Garcia said. “If Top Rank wants to do business, then let’s do it, but I’m not going to chase them. That would be silly of me.”

Garcia, Lomachenko and Crawford are in different divisions. Lomachenko, the WBO junior lightweight champion, would need to move up five pounds for a Garcia bout. Garcia would have to go up to 140 pounds to face Crawford, who holds the WBO and WBC titles at junior welterweight.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said he would be open to doing business with Garcia.

“If the fight makes sense, then why not?” Arum said. “Whatever happened between Garcia and us is in the past. The one thing I have learned is to never hold grudges. If a fight with Lomachenko or Crawford makes sense, and if there’s a market for that fight, we would be open to it.”

LOMACHENKO, CRAWFORD UPDATES

Lomachenko and Crawford have their next fight dates set, and they don’t include Garcia.

Lomachenko will return to the ring April 8 to face Jason Sosa at the new MGM National Harbor in Maryland, according to Arum.

Crawford’s next fight is May 20, but there’s no venue or opponent yet. Arum said he’s considering a fight in Chicago for Crawford.

“Terence Crawford is loved in Omaha, but we want to build his fan base across the country,” Arum said. “I think he has a lot of fans in Chicago who would want to see him.”

CANELO IN VEGAS

Golden Boy Promotions officially announced that the May 6 blockbuster bout between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. will take place at the T-Mobile Arena. Ticket information hasn’t been released.

Contact Gilbert Manzano at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0492. Follow @gmanzano24 on Twitter.