MIKEY GARCIA
Mikey Garcia tells Chris Walker that even when he was out of the ring, out of the limelight and out of people’s minds, he was always sure that he’d find himself at the top of the sport sooner rather than later
The pound-for-pounder is making up for lost time... and then some
EVEN with nothing on the horizon, I still knew I was going to be the best.”
I’m unsure whether to believe that Mikey Garcia could be so certain of his eventual status during his prolonged absence from the sport (due to a contractual dispute with promotional giant Top Rank). Thirty months without competitive action can blunt even the sharpest tools. But Garcia, we now know, wasn’t going to let anything blunt his.
The gym, Garcia’s home from home, became increasingly useful during this period, and sessions under the tutelage of older brother, Robert, were just as intense as they would have been with a fight on the horizon. One extended training camp, arguably the longest in boxing history, granted Garcia the skills and freshness to maintain the outstanding level he had reached before the legal wrangling began. Then, his return in the summer of 2016, confirmed much of what Garcia already knew.
Yet, despite the positivity that showers our late-night conversation, the three-weight world champion admits to some frustrations.
“Of course there are going to be days that just hit you hard; that can happen when life is good,” reveals Garcia, invariably polite. “I was sparring eight and 10 rounds every single week – against quality guys, too. There was no way I was dropping a level or going through the gears with these guys. I treated every spar like I would if I was getting ready for the biggest names.
“The thing that annoyed me and got to me the most was when there seemed like an end was in sight. That happened a few times and you start to think that a fight is just around the corner. But I learnt an awful lot from the whole thing. From now on, I’ll stay in control because I’ve sacrificed far too much of my time, and good fighting years, to be put in that position again.”
One may ponder what Garcia’s impressive ledger would look like if the bulk of 2014 and all of 2015 had not been swallowed up by courtrooms and legal deliberations. Up to that point, the man from Ventura, California was approaching stardom due to eye-catching wins against the likes of Orlando Salido, Juan Manuel Lopez and Roman Martinez. Garcia became WBO champion at both featherweight and super-featherweight. He was well-groomed but vicious. He was a superstar-in-waiting.
Yet Garcia, a marketable commodity, wanted to break free from his contract with Bob Arum’s group, and this choice proved to be the genesis of a fallow period that left him stranded in boxing’s wilderness for two-anda-half years.
Thankfully, though, in January 2017, Garcia produced a highlight-reel performance to rob Dejan Zlaticanin of his senses and WBC lightweight title. A clinic of precise butchery, the three-round masterclass positioned Garcia, now 30, back among the boxing mainstream and reunited his supporters with an almost-forgotten hero.
“The Zlaticanin result was a shock to some, right?” asks a somewhat bemused Garcia. “I was given the chance to let people know I was back, but do you want to know something? I never went away. I was always watching, seeing who I could fight when I eventually came back, and working out ways that I would get back to the top of the sport. My position; where I belong.
“Almost three years out and I come back and do something like that. My team wanted me to have three or four warm-up fights. My dad and brother were saying things like ‘take this slowly’ and ‘ease yourself back into the game.’ But that wasn’t going to happen. I asked them to trust me because I knew exactly what I was capable of, and I knew my talent and hunger would take me back to the very top.”
With Garcia regaining a prominent position in boxing’s fickle consciousness, his return was widely celebrated. The stoppage of Zlaticanin reminded people of the qualities he possessed and, with more control over his career, Garcia began to plot his next move. The next choice of opponent – Adrien Broner, a former four-weight world champion who competed at the higher echelons of the 147lb division – shocked everyone. Brash, arrogant, self-centred and routinely disgusting, Broner’s outlook on boxing, and life, could not be further apart from his rival’s. The Cincinnati native may have held advantages physically, but Garcia believed he knew enough about
I WAS SPARRING EIGHT AND 10 ROUNDS EVERY SINGLE WEEK – AGAINST QUALITY GUYS, TOO”
himself, and Broner, to enhance his already decorated slate.
“The fight was mentioned to me and I told them what I wanted and they agreed straight away,” he recalls. “It was the same for Broner, too. No long negotiations were needed, so no rumours got out there. We both named our price and were happy with what we received.
“Size wasn’t an issue facing Broner because we didn’t really see him as a true welterweight. His ideal weight was probably around 140 or possibly even 135 and if they’re the divisions where I want to make my name then there’s no way I’ll be turning away from challenges. I waited so long to be back among the big fights and Adrien Broner was exactly what I was looking for.”
Following a slow start, which featured studious examinations of Broner’s speedy style, Garcia grew into the fight and turned in a dominant performance that has become typical of him. “He was quick, and he was strong on the inside, but you need more than that if you’re to beat me,” Mikey insists. “Believe me, his jab early was good. And once I was able to realise where I was with it, the fight became a little bit easier. I knew once I had control he’d become a mess because he’s a lot better when he’s on top and he hasn’t really got it in him to turn a fight around. It was good to go to New York and take part in such a fight.”
With Broner another conquered town in Garcia’s rear-view mirror, the next destination is Sergey Lipinets for the IBF super-lightweight title. Victory for Garcia will see him crowned world champion at a fourth weight, and the inexperienced Kazakhrussian has his full respect – even if greater threats loiter in the background.
“He’s a good undefeated fighter, and I know how much it means to protect that zero,” Garcia states. “It’s vital to undefeated fighters. We know far too much to get complacent. Although this hasn’t got the profile that was there when I fought Broner, it’s a fight I have to win and also look good in. That’s what’s expected of me now. He’s a world champion for a reason and I look forward to the challenge, but, believe me, there’ll only be one winner.”
While Lipinets commands the majority of Garcia’s attention, other names, esteemed names at that, do manage to squeeze their way into the fighter’s focus. Vasyl Lomachenko and Jorge Linares, for instance, two current darlings of boxing, are names Garcia is desperate to test himself against.
Excelling at super-featherweight and lightweight respectively, the pair have been linked with each other as well as Garcia, but promotional bickering seems to be the sprinkler pouring water on the flame that could ignite boxing in 2018. Garcia admires both men, but believes one constitutes a sterner test than the other.
“Right now, at this moment, Linares gives me much the harder fight,” Garcia claims. “He’s fighting men in his own division, guys his own size, and not forcing tiny fighters to come up two weight divisions. That makes me question what he’s [Lomachenko] really all about, so, at this stage, I say Linares gives me the harder fight.
“Does that mean I’m not impressed by Lomachenko? Of course not. He has amazing speed and some of the best footwork around. But until I see that against guys the same size
I KNEW BRONER WOULD BECOME A MESS ONCE I HAD CONTROL”
as him, I’ll reserve a little judgement. I see why people are all-in on him because he’s ticking boxes and looking good doing it, but do it against people the same size as you, Vasyl.
“I want either of them in the summer, but I’m not going to be told what to do by Top Rank [Lomachenko’s promoter] or Golden Boy [for Linares]. I believe the team behind me [PBC, with the influential Al Haymon] can make both fighters a good offer, but they’ve got to be realistic and do it for themselves. Let us all fight, and sort everything out ourselves. We don’t really need anybody else to tell us what we should be doing. Let’s all be men about this and give fans the fight of 2018 this summer. I’m hopeful that this can all be arranged after my next fight, but, if not, myself and [IBF lightweight champion] Robert Easter will more than likely end up getting it on.”
Garcia, 37-0 (30), had to endure the negative side of the system for far too long and there now exists a reluctance to ever again commit to a promotional entity. His bitter, nasty and sometimes dirty conflict with Top Rank saw a sizeable chunk of his fighting prime ripped apart and scattered on boxing’s scrap heap. In his absence, the promotional powerhouse then steered Lomachenko, one of Garcia’s rivals, towards lofty heights, and a negotiating war between Garcia and his former paymasters could unfold later this year. If victorious, the scenario Garcia envisioned during his unfortunate sabbatical will finally be realised.
LOMACHENKO NEEDS TO DO IT AGAINST PEOPLE HIS OWN SIZE”