Can Mikey Garcia Still Dominate?
By Anthony “Stacks” Saldaña
Photo by Raymond Rodriguez
The last time fight fans had a chance to watch two time former world champion Mikey Garcia enter the boxing ring was on January 25th 2014. That night he came away with a unanimous decision victory over Juan Carlos Burgos. Since that night in New York City, Mikey has spent the last two and half years out of the ring fighting a legal battle against Top Rank and promoter Bob Arum. Mikey claimed Top Rank violated the Muhammad Ali Act, which is a federal statute put in place to prevent promoters from taking advantage of fighters. Eventually after a long court battle Garcia was released from his Top Rank contract this past April.
Now the former champion looks to pick up where he left off. Garcia, 34-0, 28 KO’s will take on Elio Rojas, 24-2, 14 KO’s, of San Francisco de Macoris, Dominican Republic. Elio is a former WBC Featherweight World Champion who captured the title in 2009 with a 12-round unanimous decision over defending champion Takahiro Ao in Japan. The Garcia vs. Rojas bout will be the co-main the event on July 30th when WBA Featherweight Champion Leo Santa Cruz takes on Ireland’s Carl Frampton.
This fight for Garcia will be a measuring stick of sorts for him and his team as it will give them a great opportunity to see what types of effect his lay off had on him. Recently at a public workout at City of Angels Boxing gym in Los Angeles, Mikey stated “I don’t believe there will be ring rust because I was never really outside of the ring. I’ve been in the gym the whole time, sparring and training. I would spar 10 or 12 rounds, just to do it. Not because I had a fight, but just to keep me active. I know it seems like a long time, but I don’t really see it. I feel like I was gone six months.”
Mikey grew up in a fighting family. His brother, Robert Garcia, who is Mikey’s trainer, is a former IBF junior lightweight champion who lost his belt to the late Diego Corrales. His oldest brother, Daniel, was also a boxer who just opened up a new gym in Oxnard, California and his father, Eduardo, is a former amateur boxer who has been training and working with fighters for over 40 years. Fighters that include Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios and Fernando Vargas. Mikey began fighting at the age of 14 and beat current Welterweight Champion Danny Garcia in the 2003 Jr. Olympics. So for the 28 year old Mikey this layoff I believe was more of a resting period. I don’t see him having any ring rust on the 30th and completely dominating Rojas. The fight with Rojas will be at a catch-weight somewhere between 135-140lbs and eventually I see Garcia moving back down to 135lbs. If Garcia does move down to Lightweight he’ll be fighting in a stacked division that will definitely answer any questions, doubts or concerns. If Garcia plans on becoming champion again at 135lbs he’ll have to beat the likes of Dejan Zlaticanin, Rances Barthelemy, Terry Flanagan, Jorge Linares and Anthony Crolla. Not to mention having to deal with the up and comers in the Lightweight division like Robert Easter, JR., Felix Verdejo, Jose Felix, Gervontra Davis and stablemate Saul “Neno” Rodriguez.
Mikey has all the skills to be champion again, but one thing that is yet to be seen is does he have the hunger to go out and become champion. In my opinion the long layoff for Mikey will have done one of two things. One it allowed Mikey to enjoy family time, time that most boxers miss because of training and dedication they give to the sport. Mikey just might enter the ring and realize he really did enjoy being a family man. Mikey is a Ventura County Sheriff Academy graduate and has a talked about early retirement in the past. With that being said, don’t be surprised if after a few fights Mikey disappoints you with his performances. Two it opened up Mikey’s eyes to how much he loves the sport and being a world champion. If the second is the case fans can expect one of the top fighters in the world to come back with a vengeance to regain his titles. I have no doubt Mikey has what it takes to be champ, he’s been to the top, he knows the feeling. The question that remains is can he maintain that same drive and focus? I myself hope so. With the number of great matches that can be made at lightweight, having Mikey back in mix is a win – win situation for fight fans.
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