{"id":72750,"date":"2018-06-11T21:16:56","date_gmt":"2018-06-12T02:16:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=72750"},"modified":"2018-06-11T21:27:15","modified_gmt":"2018-06-12T02:27:15","slug":"mikey-garcia-vs-robert-easter-gets-off-to-a-great-start-with-buzzing-comments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=72750","title":{"rendered":"Mikey Garcia Vs Robert Easter, JR Gets Off To A Great Start With Buzzing Comments!"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"polls-1810\" class=\"wp-polls\">\n\t<form id=\"polls_form_1810\" class=\"wp-polls-form\" action=\"\/index.php\" method=\"post\">\n\t\t<p style=\"display: none;\"><input type=\"hidden\" id=\"poll_1810_nonce\" name=\"wp-polls-nonce\" value=\"28ae480b22\" \/><\/p>\n\t\t<p style=\"display: none;\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"poll_id\" value=\"1810\" \/><\/p>\n\t\t<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Who Wins?<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"polls-1810-ans\" class=\"wp-polls-ans\"><ul class=\"wp-polls-ul\">\n\t\t<li><input type=\"radio\" id=\"poll-answer-4542\" name=\"poll_1810\" value=\"4542\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-4542\">Garcia<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<li><input type=\"radio\" id=\"poll-answer-4543\" name=\"poll_1810\" value=\"4543\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-4543\">Easter, JR.<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<\/ul><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><input type=\"button\" name=\"vote\" value=\"   Vote   \" class=\"Buttons\" onclick=\"poll_vote(1810);\" \/><\/p><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"#ViewPollResults\" onclick=\"poll_result(1810); return false;\" title=\"View Results Of This Poll\">View Results<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n\t<\/form>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"polls-1810-loading\" class=\"wp-polls-loading\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-polls\/images\/loading.gif\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading ...\" title=\"Loading ...\" class=\"wp-polls-image\" \/>&nbsp;Loading ...<\/div>\n\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">[AdSense-A]<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=72750\" rel=\"http:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=72750\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-72751 size-medium\" style=\"margin-right: 10px;\" src=\"http:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/garcia-easter_1-300x253.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"232\" height=\"169\" \/><\/a>WBC Lightweight World Champion Mikey Garcia and IBF Lightweight World Champion Robert Easter Jr. will square-off in a 135-pound unification showdown between unbeaten stars Saturday, July 28 live on SHOWTIME from STAPLES Center in Los Angeles in an event presented by Premier Boxing Champions.<\/p>\n<p>The main event of the SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING\u00ae telecast (10 p.m. ET\/7 p.m. PT) will see Garcia look to become a unified champion for the first time in a career that has seen him win titles in four weight classes. Easter, who enters with a 5-inch height and 8-inch reach advantage, looks to stamp his name amongst boxing\u2019s elite by unifying titles at 27 years old, less than two years after capturing his first belt.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Tickets for the live event, which is promoted by Ringstar Sports and TGB Promotions, begin at $50, plus applicable fees, and are on sale today at 12 p.m. PT. To purchase tickets, visit AXS.com.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSHOWTIME Sports continues to lead the industry with the biggest events, the most important matchups, week after week, month after month,\u201d said Stephen Espinoza, President Sports &amp; Events Programming, Showtime Network Inc. \u201cMikey Garcia vs. Robert Easter Jr. is the third world championship unification match on SHOWTIME this year. A consensus top-10 pound-for-pound champion facing an undefeated young champion while both are in the prime of their careers. July 28 has all the makings of an instant classic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMikey Garcia vs. Robert Easter is an outstanding lightweight matchup that is sure to deliver drama for fight fans at STAPLES Center and on SHOWTIME,\u201d Said Tom Brown, President of TGB Promotions. \u201cGarcia will look to unify in his hometown and further solidify his credentials as boxing\u2019s pound-for-pound best. He\u2019ll have perhaps the toughest test of his career in the unbeaten Easter, who has a lethal combination of size, speed and power that he brings to the ring. With both fighters defending their titles and undefeated records, this is shaping up to be a can\u2019t-miss night of boxing in downtown Los Angeles.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is the kind of matchup that boxing fans love and a fight that I believe will certainly live up to expectations,\u201d said Richard Schaefer, Chairman &amp; CEO of Ringstar Sports. \u201cWith two undefeated world champions, and two of the top guys at 135 pounds, this fight is guaranteed drama. Mikey Garcia will look to become a unified world champion and add another accolade to a career that is already shaping up to be historic. Robert Easter Jr, a proud champion in his own right, is coming to STAPLES Center on July 28 to upset Mikey Garcia in his hometown. This is the quality of matchup that fans watching on SHOWTIME have come to expect and I suspect they will be fulfilled once again when these two warriors meet in the ring.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are really looking forward to this incredible fight at STAPLES Center,\u201d said Lee Zeidman, President, STAPLES Center. \u201cThese two fighters will undoubtedly headline an amazing night of fights for boxing fans in Los Angeles and we are looking forward to welcoming back Premier Boxing Champions and SHOWTIME for the second time in just two months.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One of Southern California\u2019s most popular fighters, Garcia returns to STAPLES Center for his first fight since becoming a world champion, and his first in California in seven years. Easter returns to the site of his professional debut, having started his career at STAPLES Center in 2012 after serving as an alternate in the London Olympic Games.<\/p>\n<p>Garcia (38-0, 30 KOs), of Moreno Valley by way of Oxnard, Calif., became only the third fighter in modern history to become champion at 126, 130, 135 and 140-pounds, joining future Hall of Famers Juan Manuel Marquez and Manny Pacquiao, when he defeated Sergey Lipinets for the IBF 140-pound title in March. The 30-year-old relinquished that title so that he can unify the WBC Lightweight World Championship that he won in January 2017 with a highlight reel knockout of Dejan Zlaticanin (Click HERE to watch Garcia-Zlaticanin KO video)<\/p>\n<p>These wins, combined with a summer 2017 victory over Adrien Broner, have seen Garcia return to the top of pound-for-pound lists after a layoff of two and a half years. Garcia accrued wins over a list of notable names while winning his first two titles at 126 and 130-pounds, including Orlando Salido, Roman Martinez and Juan Manuel Lopez.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is the toughest fight of my career to date,\u201d said the four-division champion Garcia. \u201cRobert Easter Jr. is an undefeated world champion who presents serious challenges that I\u2019m going to have to work hard to overcome. Unifying titles is something I\u2019ve dreamed of doing for many years, and to do it at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles will make it even more special. This is the kind of fight that will help my legacy. To be the best you have to beat the best, and Easter is certainly one of the best out there. I\u2019m very thankful to have this opportunity and I\u2019m going to make the most of it on July 28.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Representing his hometown of Toledo, Ohio, Easter (21-0, 14 KOs) has made three successful defenses since winning his world title in an exciting contest over Richard Commey in 2016. The 27-year-old delivered a fifth-round destruction of former champion Argenis Mendez to earn the title shot, and since winning the title has held off challenges from Javier Fortuna, Denis Shafikov and Luis Cruz to retain his 135-pound belt.<\/p>\n<p>Easter will be making the move to work with Kevin Cunningham for the first time for this fight and conducting training camp in West Palm Beach with him. Cunningham, the longtime trainer of former world champions such as Devon Alexander and Cory Spinks, spurred Adrien Broner to a strong performance in a draw against Jessie Vargas and Gervonta Davis to a dominant knockout of Jesus Cuellar in their first fights together in April.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a fight I\u2019ve been waiting for and I\u2019m really excited that the time is now,\u201d said Easter. \u201cThis is the best fighting the best. These are the fights that boxing is all about. I made the move to train with Kevin Cunningham down in Florida and I think it\u2019s going to help me reach another level. It\u2019s just eat, sleep and train down there. We\u2019re going to be ready on July 28 to put on a show and deliver fireworks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/sn1QKJVYouk?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[AdSense-A] WBC Lightweight World Champion Mikey Garcia and IBF Lightweight World Champion Robert Easter Jr. will square-off in a 135-pound unification showdown between unbeaten stars Saturday, July 28 live on SHOWTIME from STAPLES Center in Los Angeles in an event presented by Premier Boxing Champions. The main event of the SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING\u00ae telecast (10 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[18288,18287],"class_list":["post-72750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boxing-news","tag-jr-gets-off-to-a-great-start-with-buzzing-comments","tag-mikey-garcia-vs-robert-easter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=72750"}],"version-history":[{"count":-1,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72750\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=72750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=72750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=72750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}