4 Fighters Mikey Garcia Should Take on After Defeating Jessie Vargas

Mikey Garcia finally picked up a win at 147 pounds when he convincingly took down Jessie Vargas Saturday in Texas, showing that he can beat a fighter with some real pedigree as a welterweight. Garcia could go in any number of directions with his next fight, but these four opponents make the most sense if he wants to keep climbing up boxing's pound-for-pound rankings.

1. Manny Pacquiao

With his summer 2019 win over Keith Thurman, Manny Pacquiao became the oldest welterweight champ in the world at age 40 while becoming the first boxer to hold title belts in four different decades. Pacquiao and Garcia are mirror images of each other as fighters in many ways, which would make the two getting in the ring together as "small" welterweights a highly contested affair. Pacquiao has long been PPV gold and a massive global star, and this fight would be a license to print money.

2. Keith Thurman

Thurman has yet to fight since last July when the PacMan handed him his first career loss. While he couldn't do much to bother Manny, "One Time" and his considerable knockout power remain about as difficult a non-title fight as there is at 147. Before Garcia gets a shot at a welterweight belt, he might want to prove himself by winning one more fight, and Thurman could be either the perfect springboard to a title shot -- or a reminder that Mikey should never have left 140.

3. Josh Taylor

Garcia seems set on staying at 147, but his two fights against Errol Spence and Vargas prove that he's a more aggressive and effective fighter at 140, where he remains the lineal champion. If he goes back down, he'll have to contend with Josh Taylor. The Scottish star currently holds three belts in the junior welterweight division, and he would be the best resistance Garcia could face in a class that he used to dominate. This one isn't likely at the moment, but it wouldn't be lacking for quality if Garcia did opt to move back down.

4. Errol Spence Jr.

Garcia's endgame with his venture into welterweight is to take down Errol Spence after the Long Island native dusted him in his first fight as a welterweight. With a win over Shawn Porter in the bag, it's Spence who runs this division alongside the similarly undefeated Terence Crawford. Garcia looked more comfortable at this weight in the Vargas fight, but the dangerous Spence is still quite a mountain to climb for Garcia. All told, however, there's no doubting that a rematch is clearly in the back of his mind.