ONE OF THE VERY BEST
Mikey Garcia targets Errol Spence Jnr after latest magnificent showing
PERHAPS it’s time we start appreciating
Mikey Garcia. Not because he wants to move up and fight welterweight champion Errol Spence Jnr, but because of what he’s already accomplished. Garcia’s unanimous decision win over Robert Easter Jnr on Saturday night made him the 10th fighter in boxing history to unify lightweight titles. That became an afterthought once he called Spence out during his post-fight interview with Showtime Championship Boxing announcer Jim Gray. Upon hearing the news, fight fans immediately raced to social media platforms, some to question Mikey’s sincerity, others his sanity.
Garcia, 30, deserves the blame for turning a historic feat into an afterthought. He spent the weeks leading up to the Easter bout waxing poetic about one with Spence, as if a win over Easter was a foregone conclusion. Easter’s camp wasn’t having it, expressing displeasure at what they perceived to be a lack of respect from the WBC titlist. Easter, 27, isn’t quite Esteban Dejesus whom Roberto Duran defeated to unify back in the seventies. Even so, he’s a 5ft 11ins rangy lightweight with an accomplished amateur background. He displayed prodigious power when he flattened Argenis Mendez in April 2016, and heart and skill in winning the vacant IBF title versus Richard Commey in a 2016 Fight of the Year candidate.
The regression Easter showed in subsequent bouts versus Denis Shafikov and Javier Fortuna is why he was a 6-1 underdog versus Garcia — and why Easter enlisted the help of trainer Kevin Cunningham, relocating from his native Ohio to muggy Florida, where he put himself through a tough 10-week camp.
While Easter moved away from his roots, Garcia returned to his. From the Uber driver at the airport — who called Garcia “a new age Julio Cesar Chavez” — to the bartender at the local watering hole to the waitress at a family-owned Mexican restaurant, everyone in Los Angeles spoke excitedly of “Mikey” coming home, as if he were a younger sibling who had spent the past few years stationed on a military base abroad.
Indeed, Garcia has engaged in his share of battles, in and out of the ring, since he last fought in his home state of California seven years ago, also at the Staples. He was a rising contender then, the golden child of a fighting family.
Garcia eventually won titles at 126 and 130lbs before a fall out with his promoter Top Rank Promotions kept him out of the ring for 30 months. The conflict ended in a settlement that made Garcia a free agent. But the heights once seen for him seemed out of reach. Not anymore.
Since returning to boxing in July 2016, Garcia has fought five times, beating five past or present world champions, three of whom were undefeated. An amped crowd of 12,560 packed Staples Center to witness Easter become the third.
Most of them were quiet during the first two rounds. This wasn’t the Easter from the Fortuna bout, the one who eschewed his physical advantages to engage on the inside with his shorter opponent. This version kept Garcia at bay, working a long jab up and downstairs while circling the ring.
Easter dominated most of the third, snapping Garcia’s head back several times. With seconds remaining, Garcia uncorked a snapping right flush on the jaw. Easter countered with a left hook, but Garcia’s follow-up hook arrived first, sending Easter tumbling to the mat and the crowd into a frenzy. He rose quickly, clinching until the bell sounded.
After a shaky fourth, Easter found his footing in the fifth, again keeping Garcia off-balance with his stick-and-move strategy. He enjoyed an even better sixth, catching Garcia coming in with the right and consistently landing the jab to the solar plexus.
The crowd chanted “Mikey! Mikey!” as Garcia closed the gap in the seventh. They were temporarily silenced by an Easter uppercut on the inside. However, Garcia was matching Easter jab for jab now, maneuvering him toward the ropes and working him over.
Following a slow eighth, the pace picked up in the ninth. A whipping left hook to the ribs nearly doubled Easter over. The blow seemed to sap the fight out of him. He spent the rest of the round — and the bout — doing little else besides leaning on the ropes and covering up. Easter couldn’t find a second wind. Garcia didn’t need a second gear. He pulled away over the last few rounds to win by scores of 118-109, 117-110 and 116-111.
Garcia, a four-division titlist and now unified champion, is arguably the most accomplished active boxer this side of Manny Pacquiao. Along with Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, he’s one of only three modern era fighters to win world titles at 126, 130, 135 and 140lbs. In short, no matter what happens going forward, he’s already cemented himself as a future Hall of Famer. After losing two of his prime years, many relegated Garcia to the scrap heap. His star has never shone brighter than it does now.
Luis Ortiz toyed with Razvan Cojanu, scoring a highlight-reel KO at 2-08 of the second. The fight was over as soon as Ortiz let his hands ago in the second. A jab blinded Cojanu from the thunderous left cross that followed. Cojanu fell face-first to the mat, rising and falling two more times as he struggled to make it to his feet. In all, Ortiz scored three knockdowns with one punch. Referee Jerry Cantu mercifully stopped it as Cojanu struggled to gain control of his legs. Ortiz wants a Wilder rematch next. That’s more likely to occur next year, if it happens at all. Undefeated 140lb contender Mario
Barrios continues to show improvement under the tutelage of Virgil Hunter. Jose
Roman was expected to be a step up in class, but Barrios dominated from the opening bell, scoring two knockdowns and causing Roman’s corner to throw in the towel prior to the start of the ninth.
THE VERDICT Artful Mikey Garcia deserves to be appreciated.