Sidelined boxers now on center stage
Garcia promises action- packed fight against Rojas
Over the last 714 days, Miguel Angel “Mikey” Garcia and Elio Rojas have competed in exactly zero fights. Not one round for these two former champions. Litigation has been their undoing. Garcia, a former featherweight and super featherweight titlist, has been sidelined since Jan. 25, 2014, because of a contract dispute with Top Rank, his longtime promotional company. Rojas, nicknamed “The Kid,” which he’s not anymore at 33, has sat out since Aug. 13, 2014, because of a contract dispute with his manager. Garcia was 26 when he last fought and will be 29 in December.
So you might expect an overabundance of rust and dearth of action when they step into the ring to face each other on Saturday night in Garcia’s long- awaited comeback fight at Barclays Center., in the co- feature of the Leo Santa CruzCarl Frampton featherweight title fight.
If you expect that, Garcia contends, you will be wrong.
Garcia ( 34- 0, 28 KOs) did not store his gloves away in a trunk during his hiatus and spend his nights partying and putting on weight. The younger brother of highly respected trainer Robert Garcia spent the last 2 ½ years as something of a gym rat, helping his brother work with the trainer’s young signees and veterans alike at one of Robert’s two Los Angelesarea gyms.
“I was working out the entire time,” Garcia told USA TODAY Sports. “I was sparring a lot of times, two or three times a week. There were days when I would even spar 10- 12 rounds with guys. I would help at the gym and at the same time, it helps me.
“During the whole 2 1⁄2 years I was gone, there were realistically maybe four or five weeks of inactivity, of completely no gym. The rest of the time I was in the gym even if it was only three days of the week. But most of the time I was there every day, Monday through Friday.
“It’s not the same when a fighter takes six months off and blows up 40 pounds, then thinks he’s going to be able to fight with four or six weeks of training camp. It’s not going to happen. I was able to stay in the gym, stay in shape, stay active, not let my body blow up in weight, so now that I’m back I don’t feel like it’s going to affect me in any way.”
Garcia, whose last fight was a unanimous decision victory against Juan Carlos Burgos on Jan. 25, 2014, believes the time away will extend his career.
“I think the reason why it will lengthen my career is because, had I been boxing the whole time, I probably would be thinking of retiring soon because I was getting bored, I was getting tired of the same routine, the same training camps, long training camps fight after fight, and just never taking a break,” he said.
“But being that I did allow myself to take a break, and enjoy myself and be normal, go to fights without having to worry about training camps, diet or anything like that, I focused on other things, and it allowed me to regain that hunger.”
Garcia said during the 2 1⁄2 years he was idle, Top Rank never made one serious offer for a fight for him, but Top Rank’s Bob Arum has said Garcia was seeking too much money. Garcia has no bitterness toward the company.
Garcia knows Rojas ( 24- 2, 14 KOs), having seen him when he was a champion, and said he was ranked right under Rojas. Garcia was ready to challenge for a world title at the time, but Rojas lost his WBC featherweight title to Jhonny Gonzalez in 2012 and has fought just once since then. In fact he has fought three times in six years.
“Elio is a very good fighter. He’s got the experience, he’s got the talent, the boxing skills,” Garcia said. “I know he’s been inactive for almost two years so we’re almost on the same page there. I want him to come fully prepared for the fight. I want him to be aggressive and come with the mind- set of winning. ...
“I don’t want a walk in the park. If I wanted that I could’ve chosen someone that I could blow out of the water. We want someone who’s worthy, like Rojas, and I think it’s going to be a great fight. It’s a very even fight on paper.”