Miguel Angel Garcia Cortez (born December 15, 1987), best known as Mikey Garcia, is an American former
professional boxer
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...
who competed from 2006 to 2021. He held multiple
world championships in four weight classes from
featherweight
Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling.
Boxing
Professional boxing
History
A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, this ...
to
light welterweight
Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing Professional boxing
In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...
, and challenged once for the
IBF
The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...
welterweight
Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...
title.
Early life and education
Born to Mexican parents, Miguel Angel's father, Eduardo, was an amateur boxer and trainer of world champion
boxer Boxer most commonly refers to:
* Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing
*Boxer (dog), a breed of dog
Boxer or boxers may also refer to:
Animal kingdom
* Boxer crab
* Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans
* Boxer snipe ee ...
Fernando Vargas
Fernando Javier Vargas (born December 7, 1977) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2007. He was a two-time light middleweight world champion, having held the IBF title from 1998 to 2000, and the WBA title from 200 ...
at
La Colonia Youth Boxing Club
La Colonia Youth Boxing Club is a boxing gym on 1st Street in La Colonia, a neighborhood in Oxnard, California. Notable Mexican American boxers train at the gym and future boxers are also brought up there. . His older brother,
Roberto
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
was a professional boxer and a former
IBF Super Featherweight Champion
This is a list of Super featherweight boxing champions, as recognized by boxing organizations:
* The World Boxing Association (WBA), established in 1921 as the National Boxing Association (NBA).
* The World Boxing Council (WBC), established in 19 ...
who lost his belt to the late
Diego Corrales
Diego "Chico" Corrales Jr. (August 25, 1977 – May 7, 2007) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2007. He was a multiple-time world champion in two weight divisions, having held the IBF super featherweight title from 199 ...
. His oldest brother, Daniel, was a boxer and trainer. He has been featured on
ABC's show
American Latino TV
''American Latino TV'' is a nationally syndicated television program produced by American Latino Syndication, a division of LATV Networks. The weekly magazine and culture lifestyle program showcases American and foreign-born Latinos making a po ...
and he talked about balancing studies with the demands of
boxing
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...
.
Garcia has said he grew up in a "gang-related neighborhood" in
Oxnard, California
Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. On California's South Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the 22nd-most-populous city in California. Incorporated in 1903, Oxnard lies approximately west ...
. Garcia said that his parents were both strawberry pickers.
Amateur career
Garcia started his
amateur
An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...
career at the age of fourteen. In 2003, he won a silver medal at the National Junior Olympic Championships in the 125 lb division. In 2004, he won a gold medal at the National Junior Golden Gloves Championships and a silver medal at the National Police Athletic League Championships, both in the 132 lb division. In 2005, he won a bronze medal at the National Golden Gloves Championships and a gold medal at the National Police Athletic League Championships, both in the 132 lb division.
Amateur highlights
*2003 National Junior Olympic Championships (Silver Medal, 125 lbs)
*2004 National Junior Golden Gloves Championships (Gold Medal, 132 lbs)
*2004 National Police Athletic League Championships (Silver Medal, 132 lbs)
*2005 National Golden Gloves Championships (Bronze Medal, 132 lbs)
*2005 National Police Athletic League Championships (Gold Medal, 132 lbs)
Professional career
Featherweight
Early career
Garcia is known as a patient fighter with good punching power, a natural right-hander who likes to switch to southpaw during some of his fights. He turned pro in 2006 and signed with
Bob Arum
Robert Arum (born December 8, 1931) is an American lawyer and boxing promoter. He is the founder and CEO of Top Rank, a professional boxing promotion company based in Las Vegas. Prior to becoming a boxing promoter, Arum was employed as an attorn ...
's
Top Rank
Top Rank, Inc. is a boxing promotional company founded by Jabir Herbert Muhammad and Bob Arum, which was incorporated in 1973, and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Since its founding, Top Rank has promoted many world class fighters, including Muh ...
. Garcia was undefeated in his first 20 professional fights with 17 of them coming by way of knockout.
In April 2010, Mikey Garcia beat the veteran
Tomas Villa
Thomas Villa (26 Dicembre 2007) è un Pugile Italiano and was the former IBA featherweight champion.
Professional career
On July 18, 2008 Villa beat Gilberto Sanchez-Leon to win the IBA featherweight championship.
In April 2010, Villa lost to ...
by T.K.O. in the first round, to win the
USBA Featherweight
Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling.
Boxing
Professional boxing
History
A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, this ...
Championship. He then beat
Matt Remillard
Matthew Patrick Remillard (born June 12, 1986) is an American professional boxer. He won the regional NABF featherweight title in 2009, together with the WBO– NABO featherweight title in 2010. Both titles were lost to Mikey Garcia in 2011, wh ...
to win the
WBO
The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...
NABO Featherweight Championship. This would not only be the last boxing bout but also the last event
Nick Charles would broadcast, Charles would die a few days later from cancer.
In his next fight
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
asked Garcia to turn down a world title shot against
Billy Dib
Bilal Dib (born 17 August 1985), known as Billy Dib, is an Australian professional boxer. He held the IBF featherweight title from 2011 to 2013, and the IBO super-featherweight title in 2008.
Early years
Dib was born on 17 August 1985 at ...
to fight on the undercard of
Julio César Chávez, Jr. vs. Sebastian Zbik Julio is the Spanish equivalent of the month July and may refer to:
*Julio (given name)
*Julio (surname)
*Júlio de Castilhos, a municipality of the western part of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
* Julio (album), ''Julio'' (album), a 1983 co ...
. After his win over
Rafaël Guzmán, Garcia sent his well wishes to
Genaro Hernández
Genaro Hernández (May 10, 1966 – June 7, 2011) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 1998. He was a two-time super featherweight world champion, having held the WBA title from 1991 to 1995, and the WBC and lineal ti ...
who was struggling with cancer, Hernández would die a few days later. Months later he beat Juan Carlos Martinez in under four rounds at the
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
Garcia vs. Salido
Garcia's first major step up in competition came on January 19, 2013 against WBO Featherweight champion and ''Ring'' No. 1 ranked featherweight,
Orlando Salido
Orlando Salido Rivera (born November 16, 1980) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2017. He is a multiple-time former world champion in two weight classes, having held the IBF featherweight title in 2010; the WBO fe ...
. His fight with Salido was originally supposed to happen on November 10, 2012 at
Wynn Las Vegas
Wynn Las Vegas, often simply referred to as Wynn, is a luxury resort and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, United States. It is owned and operated by Wynn Resorts, and was built on the former site of the Desert Inn resort ...
but Salido broke his finger and had to pull out of the fight with Garcia fighting
Jonathan Victor Barros
Jonathan Victor Barros (born 30 January 1984) is an Argentine professional boxer. He held the WBA (Regular) featherweight title from 2010 to 2011.
Professional career
IBF featherweight championship
In March 2010, Barros lost to IBF featherweight ...
as a late replacement. Garcia would get his chance again In front of a near sell out crowd of 4,850 at
The Theater at Madison Square Garden
The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden is a theater located in New York City's Madison Square Garden. It seats between 2,000 and 5,600, and is used for concerts, shows, sports, meetings, and other events. It is located beneath the main Madison ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, Garcia dominated the bout from the very beginning, keeping Salido at range with the jab. Garcia knocked Salido down four times early on in the fight, building up a large lead on the scorecards. During the 8th round, Salido accidentally clashed heads with Garcia, causing Garcia's nose to break. The fight was stopped between rounds, with the decision going to the scorecards. Garcia won with the scores of 79–70, 79–69, 79–69 to win his first world title. Speaking of the headbutt, Garcia said, "I had the perfect fight going on. I was beating him up good, and then he drove his head into my face -- but it was accidental." Garcia earned a career-high $220,000 purse for the fight.
Garcia vs. López
Garcia was scheduled to make his first title defense against
Juan Manuel López in Dallas on June 15, 2013. Garcia failed to make 126 lb weight limit coming in two pounds overweight. He was stripped of the title. The fight went ahead after Garcia paid Lopez a penalty of $150,000 for missing weight. Garcia claimed the reason for not making weight was due to missing several days of training. On fight night, Garcia re-hydrated to 142 pounds, whilst Lopez weighed 137.5 pounds on the HBO scales. In front of a crowd of 5,605 at the
American Airlines Center
The American Airlines Center (AAC) is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in the Victory Park neighborhood in downtown Dallas, Texas. The arena serves as the home of the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association and the Dallas S ...
in
Dallas, Texas
Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...
, Garcia dominated the fight from the opening bell, dropping Lopez in round 2 following a right straight hand. In round 4, Garcia landed a left hook to Lopez, knocking him down again. At 1 minute and 35 seconds of round 4, referee Raphael Ramos waved the fight off, giving Garcia the win. After the fight, Garcia said, "I was able to land my jab and stand pretty comfortable. When I knocked him down, that gave me confidence that I could put him out early." Garcia landed 53 punches, with 40 of them being jabs.
Super featherweight
Garcia vs. Martínez
On August 1, 2013 the WBO ordered their
junior lightweight
Super featherweight, also known as junior lightweight, is a weight division in professional boxing, contested between and .
The super featherweight division was established by the New York Walker Law in 1920, although first founded by the New Yo ...
champion
Román Martínez (27–1–2, 16 KOs) to make a
mandatory defence against Garcia. On September 9, the date of the purse bid, a deal was set for the fight to take place on November 9 at the
American Bank Center
The American Bank Center is an entertainment complex located in Corpus Christi, Texas. The complex consists of an auditorium, convention center and arena. The facility hosts numerous conventions, trade shows, exhibitions, live performances and sp ...
in Corpus Christi, Texas. The attendance was announced as 5,124. Garcia went down in the second round from a Martínez counter right hand. Garcia, however, recovered and dominated the rest of the fight before knocking out Martínez with a left hook to the body in the eighth round. Speaking off the knockout punch, Garcia said, "I thought it was a very good punch when I landed it. I felt I really hurt him, enough to where he wouldn't get up. I had a feeling it would be over after I connected." Garcia landed nearly half of his total 127 power punches. This included 52 punches landed in the last three rounds compared to 8 landed by Martínez. The victory meant Garcia became a two weight world champion.
Garcia vs. Burgos
On December 14, 2013 it was announced that Garcia would make his first title defense against
mandatory challenger In professional boxing and some other combat sports, a mandatory challenger is an opponent whom a champion must either fight or be forced to vacate their title as champion. A mandatory defence is the opposite of a voluntary defence, where the champi ...
, 25 year old Mexican boxer
Juan Carlos Burgos
Juan Carlos Burgos Castillo (born December 26, 1987) is a Mexican professional boxer. He's nicknamed Miniburgos after his uncle, who is a former world champion Víctor Burgos. Juan Carlos is the top ranked Featherweight by the WBC.
Profession ...
(30–1–2, 20 KOs). The fight was set for January 25, 2014 at
the Theater at Madison Square Garden
The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden is a theater located in New York City's Madison Square Garden. It seats between 2,000 and 5,600, and is used for concerts, shows, sports, meetings, and other events. It is located beneath the main Madison ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
on a live double-header on
HBO Boxing After Dark
''Boxing After Dark'' is an HBO boxing program, premiered on February 3, 1996, that usually showed fights between well-known contenders, but usually not "championship" or "title" fights. Unlike its sister program, ''HBO World Championship Boxing ...
, with
Bryant Jennings
Bryant Jennings (born September 25, 1984) is an American former professional boxer. He challenged once for the unified world heavyweight titles in 2015, and the WBA interim heavyweight title in the same year. Jennings holds notable wins over fo ...
vs.
Artur Szpilka
Artur Szpilka (; born 12 April 1989) is a Polish professional boxer and mixed martial artist. He has challenged once for the WBC heavyweight title in 2016. He holds a notable win over former two-weight world champion Tomasz Adamek.
Profession ...
as co-main event. Burgos was known to have fought to a split draw with former champion Román Martínez on the Garcia-Salido undercard in January 2013. Garcia went into the fight with a 11-fight knockout streak. After being staggered in the second round, Garcia took control of the fight and won close to every round for the remainder of the bout. At the end of the fight, Garcia won via unanimous decision (118–110, 118–110, 119–109), improving to 34–0. Garcia landed 163 of 567 punches thrown (29%) and Burgos landed 89 of his 564 thrown (16%).
In the post fight interview, Garcia admitted he had trouble at the start, "His height gave me difficulty. But I found my range and I found my distance and that was it." Burgos snapped Garcia's knockout streak which stretched back 4 years to 2010 and the fight also marked the first time Garcia saw out the 12 round distance. Garcia called out
Yuriorkis Gamboa
Yuriorkis Gamboa Toledano (born 23 December 1981) is a Cuban professional boxer. He is a former unified featherweight world champion, having held the WBA and IBF titles between 2009 and 2011, as well as the WBA interim championship in both th ...
for a potential fight. The fight averaged 829,000 viewers and peaked at 911,000 viewers.
Contract dispute with Top Rank
Garcia had been unhappy over his purses, which had been increasing to career-high six-figure levels fight after fight, sued Top Rank in April 2014 to get out of the agreement. Although in arbitration with his promoter, Garcia had expressed plans of returning to the ring under a new contract with
Top Rank
Top Rank, Inc. is a boxing promotional company founded by Jabir Herbert Muhammad and Bob Arum, which was incorporated in 1973, and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Since its founding, Top Rank has promoted many world class fighters, including Muh ...
. On October 15, Garcia vacated his WBO title. He was due to make a mandatory defence against Interim champion Orlando Salido. Garcia also cited difficulty in making the 130 pound limit, the main reason he vacated. On April 8, 2016, it was confirmed that Garcia and Top Rank, who were locked in a dispute over his promotional contract, had reached a settlement, according to
Bob Arum
Robert Arum (born December 8, 1931) is an American lawyer and boxing promoter. He is the founder and CEO of Top Rank, a professional boxing promotion company based in Las Vegas. Prior to becoming a boxing promoter, Arum was employed as an attorn ...
. Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti told
ESPN.com
ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN. It is owned by ESPN Internet Ventures, a division of ESPN Inc.
History
Since launching in April 1995 as ESPNET.SportsZone.com (ESPNET SportsZone), the website has developed numerous sections including: ...
. "All parties came to a mutual agreement, details of that agreement are a confidential matter. We all move on and do what we do." Although Garcia's Top Rank contract was up in August, they reached a deal.
Light welterweight
Garcia vs. Rojas
Top Rank announced on June 28, 2016, after 2 and a half years off, Garcia would be returning to the boxing ring against former
world featherweight titleholder
Elio Rojas
Elio Enai Rojas (born September 25, 1982) is a Dominican Republican professional boxer.
Amateur Highlights
1999- Gold Medal in the Battle of Carabobo and Cheo Aponte Tournament.
Elio Rojas solidified his status as a World Class Boxer in 2000 b ...
on July 30 on
Showtime
Showtime or Show Time may refer to:
Film
* ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film
* ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur
Television Networks and channels
* Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
in a 10-round bout at
Barclays Center
Barclays Center is a multi-purpose list of indoor arenas, indoor arena in the New York City Boroughs of New York City, borough of Brooklyn. The arena is home to the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association and the New York Liberty o ...
in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
on the undercard of
Santa-Cruz-
Frampton. This would be a one-fight deal with promoter
Lou DiBella
Louis John DiBella Jr. (born May 17, 1960) is an American boxing promoter and television/film producer.
Education
DiBella is a graduate of Regis High School (New York City). He then continued his education at Tufts University before pursuing ...
and Showtime. They met at approximately 138 pounds. The weight had not been contractually hashed out, however Garcia planned to move down with the hopes of challenging for a world title in the 135-pound lightweight division. Garcia scored four knockdowns, before finishing Rojas in the 5th round via knockout. Garcia hit Rojas face-first with a left hand and dropping him with a right uppercut-left hook combination. Rojas, who was only fighting for the second time in four years, beat the count, but referee Claudio waved it off at 2 minutes, 2 seconds. After the fight, Garcia said, "I think it was a very good performance. Even though I've been out for two-and-a-half years, people haven't forgotten about me. I did miss
oxing but the time off helped me regain that fire." CompuBox stats showed that Garcia landed 53 of 162 punches thrown (42%) and Rojas landed 47 of 168 thrown (28%). Rojas came off a 23-month lay-off. The fight averaged 427,000 viewers.
Lightweight
Garcia vs. Zlatičanin
Garcia announced he would be fighting at lightweight to challenge undefeated
WBC champion Dejan Zlatičanin
Dejan Zlatičanin (born 23 April 1984) is a Montenegrin professional boxer. He is the first Montenegrin to win a boxing world title, having held the WBC lightweight title from 2016 to 2017.
Professional career
Zlatičanin made his professional ...
(22–0, 15 KOs). Zlatičanin claimed the vacant title by knocking out Franklin Mamani in June and also holds decision victories over the likes of
Petr Petrov
Petr Petrov (russian: Пётр Петров, born 28 March 1983) is a Russian professional boxer. He has challenged twice for a world title, at light-welterweight in 2011 and at lightweight in 2017.
Early life
At the age of sixteen Petrov moved ...
and former multiple weight world champion
Ricky Burns Ricky may refer to:
Places
*Říčky (Brno-Country District), a village and municipality in the Czech Republic
*Říčky v Orlických horách, a village in the north of the Czech Republic
*Rickmansworth, a town in England sometimes called "Ricky"
...
. The fight would take place at the
MGM Grand in Las Vegas and again serve as a co-feature to the anticipated rematch between
Carl Frampton
Carl Frampton (born 21 February 1987) is a former professional boxer from Northern Ireland who competed from 2009 to 2021. He is a former two-weight world champion, having held the WBA (Unified) and IBF super-bantamweight titles between 2014 a ...
and
Leo Santa Cruz
Leo or Léo may refer to:
Acronyms
* Law enforcement officer
* Law enforcement organisation
* ''Louisville Eccentric Observer'', a free weekly newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky
* Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity
Arts an ...
on January 28, 2017.
Garcia stopped Zlatičanin in round three to win the title and give Zlaticanin his first professional defeat. The end came after Garcia hit a two punch combination starting with an uppercut which led Zlatičanin open for a final right hook which dropped him backwards on the floor, a knockout of the year candidate. The referee stopped the fight immediately. Garcia became a three-weight world champion with this knockout win. Garcia's purse for the fight was $375,000 compared to the $320,000 that Zlatičanin received. In the post fight interview, Garcia said that he would like to unify the division and also mentioned fighting undefeated
Terence Crawford
Terence Allan Crawford (born September 28, 1987) is an American professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in three weight classes, including the WBO welterweight title since 2018. Previously he held the WBO and ''Ring'' maga ...
at light welterweight. Garcia landed 50 punches of 176 thrown (28%), whilst Zlatičanin landed only 16 of 60 (27%). The fight averaged 544,000 and peaked at 617,000 viewers.
Return to light welterweight
Garcia vs. Broner
On May 25, 2017 it was announced that talks were underway for a fight between Garcia and four-weight world champion
Adrien Broner
Adrien Jerome Broner (; born July 28, 1989) is an American professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in four weight classes, including the WBO super featherweight title from 2011 to 2012, the WBC lightweight title from 201 ...
on July 29, 2017 at
Barclays Center
Barclays Center is a multi-purpose list of indoor arenas, indoor arena in the New York City Boroughs of New York City, borough of Brooklyn. The arena is home to the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association and the New York Liberty o ...
in Brooklyn. A deal which would include a catchweight of 140 pounds, the super lightweight limit, with Showtime the likely network to broadcast the fight. On Monday, May 22, Broner was sentenced to 72 hours at the Kenton County Detention Center in
Covington, Kentucky
Covington is a list of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in Kenton County, Kentucky, Kenton County, Kentucky, United States, located at the confluence of the Ohio River, Ohio and Licking River (Kentucky), Licking Rivers. Cincinnati, Ohio, ...
, on a
contempt charge, after failing to make multiple court appearances. Garcia said he would be returning to lightweight after the fight, adding that the Broner fight was 'too good and too lucrative' to pass up.
If Broner missed weight, he would be fined $500,000. He said he would be more disciplined because he won't give up half a million dollars and claimed he had a reason to not miss weight.
On July 20, 8 days before the official weigh in, Broner reportedly weighed 144 pounds and said that he would 'comfortably make weight tomorrow'. On July 21, the WBC announced that their
Diamond
Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...
light welterweight title would be at stake for the fight. Garcia weighed in a career high 139.5 pounds and more than Broner, who weighed 138.7 pounds.
Garcia won the fight by unanimous decision with the three judges scoring the fight 117–111, 116–112, 116–112. The fight started tentatively, with both boxers landing few punches in the opening round. But over the course of the fight, Garcia took over and by the championship rounds he was significantly outpacing Broner in punches landed and thrown. ESPN scored the fight 120–108 shutout win for Garcia. In the post fight interviews, Garcia praised his performance and Broner, "This is definitely one of my best performances ever. I think I controlled the fight in the early rounds and I kept the activity up. Broner is a great fighter who has great skills. I was the superior fighter tonight." Broner was humble in defeat, but stated that he had to catch Garcia, who he claimed was running, "It was a good fight. At the end of the day, I come to fight, I come to win and I put my heart on the line. It was
Tom & Jerry
''Tom and Jerry'' is an American animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series centers on the riva ...
– I had to catch the mouse."
Both fighters earned a $1 million purse for the fight. CompuBox statistics showed that Garcia was the more active boxer, landing 244 of 783 punches (31%), Broner landed only 125 of 400 thrown (31%). Garcia threw over 200 punches in the last four rounds alone, trying to get the stoppage win. Garcia said he was open to any boxer coming over to showtime, whether that be at 135, 140 or even 147 pounds. The fight drew an average 881,000 viewers on Showtime and peaked at 937,000 viewers, making it the most watched fight on Showtime since
Deontay Wilder
Deontay Leshun Wilder (; born October 22, 1985) is an American professional boxer. He held the WBC heavyweight title from 2015 to 2020, making 10 successful defenses. By winning the title, Wilder became the first American world heavyweight ch ...
defeated
Bermane Stiverne
Bermane Stiverne (born November 1, 1978) is a Haitian-Canadian professional boxer. He held the WBC heavyweight title from 2014 to 2015. He also challenged twice for world titles in 2017 and 2021.
Amateur career
Stiverne started boxing at the ...
to win the WBC heavyweight title in January 2015. That fight drew an average of 1.24 million.
Garcia vs. Lipinets
In early September 2017, Garcia took to social media and called out four-weight world champion
Miguel Cotto
Miguel Ángel Cotto Vázquez (born October 29, 1980) is a Puerto Rican former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2017. He is a multiple-time world champion, and the first Puerto Rican boxer to win world titles in four weight classes, ...
for a fight in December, possibly being Cotto's final fight. Garcia's trainer and brother Roberto explained that it was his friend Rudy Hernandez who first mentioned taking Mikey up to 154 pounds for a one off fight. On September 21, he reiterated his desire to move up to 154 to be Cotto's final foe. Cotto's trainer was also open for the fight to take place.
Robert Garcia said if Mikey is unable to land a fight with Cotto, he could potentially fight
Robert Easter Jr.
Robert Easter Jr. (born January 26, 1991) is an American professional boxer who held the IBF lightweight title from 2016 to 2018. As of November 2020, he is ranked as the world's eighth best active light welterweight by BoxRec.
Amateur career
...
in a unification fight in December. On October 5, the
WBC
WBC may stand for:
Business
*Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, a former large India broadcaster now folded into CBS
*Westpac (New Delhi Exchange code: WBC), a multinational Financial services company
*Wholesale Broadband Connect, BT Wholesale's ...
ordered a fight between Garcia and
Jorge Linares
Jorge Luis Linares Palencia (born 22 August 1985) is a Venezuelan professional boxer. He has held world championships in three weight classes, including the WBC featherweight title from 2007 to 2008; the WBA super featherweight title from 20 ...
(43-3, 27 KOs), as Linares holds the
WBC Diamond
The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation ...
title, in addition to the
WBA lightweight title. Garcia commented on Twitter that the Cotto fight couldn't happen as
Golden Boy Promotions
Golden Boy Promotions, Inc. is an American boxing promotional firm based in Los Angeles, California. The company was established in 2002 by eight-time world champion (in six divisions) Oscar De La Hoya, borrowing his nickname "Golden Boy."
Histo ...
required him signing an exclusive long-term contract with them in order to make the fight. Garcia also mentioned that the fight with Linares wouldn't happen before the end of the year as Linares was unavailable on December. Lance Pugmire reported for the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' that Garcia would most likely return on December or January against
Robert Easter Jr.
Robert Easter Jr. (born January 26, 1991) is an American professional boxer who held the IBF lightweight title from 2016 to 2018. As of November 2020, he is ranked as the world's eighth best active light welterweight by BoxRec.
Amateur career
...
Eric Gomez, president of Golden Boy sent out a message to Garcia stating if he wanted the fight with Linares, it could be made, without any add-ons to the contract. Garcia later replied, "No need to put it out
npublic. You also have my number, I'll call you later bro." Gomez later announced that Garcia had rejected their offer for a one-fight agreement with a 50-50 purse split. Garcia said he had received a more lucrative offer. He said, "I have more options, in fact
..the guaranteed purse is better
..just as Golden Boy is looking to do what's best for their company, I am also looking to do what's best for me."
On December 14, 2017 RingTV.com announced that Garcia would next challenge recently crowned
IBF light welterweight champion
Sergey Lipinets
Sergey Alekseyevich Lipinets (russian: Сергей Алексеевич Липинец; born 23 March 1989) is a Russian professional boxer and former kickboxer who held the IBF light-welterweight title from 2017 to 2018.
Early life and kickbo ...
(13-0, 10 KOs) on February 10, 2018 on Showtime for a package reportedly worth approximately $3.5 million. According to early reports, the fight was likely to take place at the
Alamodome
The Alamodome is a 64,000-seat domed indoor multi-purpose stadium in San Antonio, Texas. It is located on the southeastern fringe of downtown San Antonio. The facility opened on May 15, 1993, having been constructed at a cost of $186 milli ...
in
San Antonio, Texas
("Cradle of Freedom")
, image_map =
, mapsize = 220px
, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, subdivision_t ...
. WBC president Sulaiman announced that Garcia would keep his lightweight title regardless of the result. On January 17, 2018 it was reported the fight would be postponed due to Lipinets suffering a hand injury whilst in training. Lipinets co-manager, Alex Vaysfeld stated the hand injury occurred in December 2017 and Lipinets had begged him not to postpone the fight. A doctors report suggested he could be out for a month. A few days later, the fight was rescheduled to take place on March 10. The bout would remain in San Antonio, however the
Freeman Coliseum
Freeman Coliseum is a sports and concert venue located in San Antonio, Texas. It has been host to thousands of events including the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, concerts, trade shows, motor sports, circus, professional sports including profess ...
was announced as the new venue.
Garcia dropped Lipinets in round 7, en route to becoming a four-weight world champion via unanimous decision after 12 rounds. The final scorecards read 116-111, 117-110 and 117-110 in favor of Garcia. Many of the rounds were close with Garcia doing more to win each round. Lipinets landed the harder punches. Garcia came in to the fight with a gameplan knowing Lipinets was the bigger man, he used different angles behind his jab and remained patient. A left hook to Lipinets's face dropped him for the first time in his professional career. Lipinets managed to get up and finish the round on steady legs. CompuBox Stats showed that Garcia landed 169 of 679 total punches (25%) and Lipinets landed 144 of his 509 thrown (28%). Garcia landed 46% of his power punches; 92 to Lipinets' 73. With the victory, Garcia also became the lineal light welterweight champion and joined
Manny Pacquiao
Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao Sr. (; born December17, 1978) is a Filipino politician and former professional boxer. Nicknamed "PacMan", he is regarded as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time. He served as a Senator of the Philip ...
and
Juan Manuel Marquez
''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...
as the only fighters in history to win titles at 126, 130, 135 and 140 pounds. The fight averaged 618,000 viewers and peaked at 689,000 viewers on Showtime.
Return to lightweight
Garcia vs. Easter
On March 12, 2018, the IBF wrote to Garcia, giving him until March 22 to decide whether he wants to keep his IBF title at light welterweight as they had a mandatory challenger, Ivan Baranchyk (18–0, 11 KOs) lined up next. On April 17, Garcia vacated the IBF title, confirming he would drop back to lightweight to defend his WBC title. On April 24, WBC president Sulaiman stated Garcia would participate in a lightweight unification with
IBF beltholder Robert Easter Jr.
Robert Easter Jr. (born January 26, 1991) is an American professional boxer who held the IBF lightweight title from 2016 to 2018. As of November 2020, he is ranked as the world's eighth best active light welterweight by BoxRec.
Amateur career
...
in the summer. On May 1, it was reported that the fight would likely take place in July or August at the
Staples Center
Crypto.com Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. The arena opened on October 17, 1999; it was ...
in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. On May 4, it was reported that Garcia was close to signing a deal with
UFC
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...
president
Dana White
Dana Frederick White Jr. (born July 28, 1969) is an American businessman who serves as president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a global mixed martial arts organization. In August 2019, White's net worth was estimated at $500 milli ...
's Zuffa Boxing promotions. July 28 was later confirmed as the fight date.
Before a crowd of 12,560, Garcia dropped Easter in round 3 on his way to a unanimous decision win with scores of 116–111, 117–110 and 118–109, to become the unified WBC and IBF lightweight champion. The fight started with Easter using his distance well to keep Garcia at arms reach. In round 3, Garcia knocked Easter down with a left hook to the head. Garcia did not seem to struggle to get close as Easter, who was using his long jab effectively as Garcia himself was also managing to land his jab, despite the reach disadvantage. From round 6, Garcia controlled the fight. It appeared that Easter became wary of Garcia's power and began to fight more cautiously. Both fighters traded in round 9 with Garcia landing hard shots to the body and Easter landing with his left hand. In rounds 10 and 11, Easter took punishment against the ropes. Garcia then finished strong in the final round. CompuBox showed that Garcia outlanded him 95–34 in total punches over the final four rounds. Overall, Garcia landed 176 punches of 555 thrown (32%) and Easter landed 129 of his 507 (25%). Easter landed 89 of 343 jabs, however he had more success in the first half of the fight.
On unifying, Garcia said, "It's a great accomplishment. Now we're back. I told you guys I was coming for bigger things and now we're one step closer to achieving that. I knew he was a tough opponent. He's a tough warrior. He gave a great fight, but I was the better fighter. I was in control of the fight and I did what I had to do to win." Easter was humble in defeat and gave full credit to Garcia, "He was just a better man tonight. I take my hat off to Mikey. He's a true warrior. Whenever we step in the ring, we are both putting our lives on the line, and tonight Mikey was victorious. I just couldn't find the timing and I just couldn't let my right hand go." Garcia also re-iterated his desire to fight
IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr.
Errol Spence Jr. (born March 3, 1990) is an American professional boxer. He is currently a unified welterweight world champion, having held the IBF title since May 2017, the WBC title since September 2019, and the WBA (Super) since April 2022. ...
by the end of 2018. Spence, who was sat ringside also admitted the fight was too big to turn down and would not be hard to make. Garcia reportedly earned around a $1 million purse. The fight averaged 680,000 viewers and peaked at 725,000 viewers.
Welterweight
Garcia vs. Spence
On July 31, 2018, the
IBF
The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...
ordered Garcia to defend his newly-won title against mandatory challenger
Richard Commey
Richard Oblitey Commey (born 10 March 1987) is a Ghanaian professional boxer who held the IBF lightweight title in 2019. He previously held multiple regional lightweight titles including; the Ghanaian title in 2011; the ABU title in 2013; and the ...
(26–2, 23 KOs), with a deal to be reached by August 30. Then-IBF champion Easter was ordered to fight Commey before March 30, 2018 however the IBF granted an exception for the Garcia-Easter unification bout as long as the winner satisfied their mandatory next. On October 19, Commey tweeted that the IBF had ordered the bout to go to purse bids as Garcia had not signed his side of the contract. On October 25, BoxingScene.com reported that negotiations between Garcia and Spence (24–0, 21 KOs) were progressing, with the fight likely to take place in February 2019 on Showtime PPV.
On October 30, 2018, Garcia vacated his IBF lightweight title and the purse bid for the potential Commey fight was cancelled. On November 13, PBC made an official announcement for their 2019 schedule. It was announced the fight between Garcia and Spence would take place at the welterweight limit at the
AT&T Stadium
AT&T Stadium, formerly Cowboys Stadium, is a retractable roof, retractable-roof stadium in Arlington, Texas, United States. It serves as the home of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL), and was completed on May 27, 2009. I ...
in
Arlington, Texas
Arlington is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Tarrant County. It forms part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal city of the metropolis and region. ...
on March 16, 2019 exclusively on
FOX PPV. Many fans reacted to fight being announced. Some welcomed the fight and praised Garcia for 'daring to be great' and some fans believed the size difference would be too much as Spence is considered a big welterweight. Ultimately, Garcia was dominated by Spence in a convincing fashion, resulting in a 12 round unanimous decision for Spence in which Garcia failed to win a single round on all 3 fight scorecards.
Garcia vs. Vargas
On February 29, 2020, Garcia returned to the ring in
Frisco, Texas
Frisco is a city in Collin and Denton counties in the U.S. state of Texas. It is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and about from both Dallas Love Field and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Its population was 200,509 at the 2 ...
after a layoff of almost a year. In his second bout at welterweight, he faced former two-division world champion
Jessie Vargas
Jessie Vargas (born May 10, 1989) is an American professional boxer. He is a former world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBA (Regular) and IBO super lightweight titles in 2014, and the WBO welterweight title in 2016. As of Augu ...
. Vargas was ranked #4 by the WBO at welterweight. In a hard-fought battle, Garcia dropped his opponent in the fifth round and earned a unanimous decision victory, with scores of 114-113, 116-111, and 116-111.
CompuBox
CompuBox is the name of a computerized punches scoring system run by two operators. CompuBox is used in boxing matches around the world.
Background
The system is based on a computer program, originally named FightStat, developed by Jon Gibbs in ...
punch stats saw Garcia land 151 of 478 (32%) total punches thrown, while Vargas landed 142 punches of 671 (21%) total punches thrown. In his post-fight interview, Garcia stated his intentions to continue fighting in the welterweight division, saying, "I would love to fight against
Manny Pacquiao
Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao Sr. (; born December17, 1978) is a Filipino politician and former professional boxer. Nicknamed "PacMan", he is regarded as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time. He served as a Senator of the Philip ...
, or a rematch with
Errol Spence
Errol Spence Jr. (born March 3, 1990) is an American professional boxer. He is currently a unified welterweight world champion, having held the IBF title since May 2017, the WBC title since September 2019, and the WBA (Super) since April 2022. ...
. I’m better now at this weight class. I want to continue to campaign at 147
bsand seek
a title in a fifth division.”
Garcia vs. Martin
After a layoff of almost twenty months since his last fight, Garcia returned to the ring to face
European
European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to:
In general
* ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe
** Ethnic groups in Europe
** Demographics of Europe
** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...
super lightweight champion
Sandor Martin
Sandor Martin Clemente (born 22 August 1993) is a Spanish professional boxer who has held the European super-lightweight title since 2019. As of October 2021, he is ranked as the world's sixth-best active super-lightweight by BoxRec, and eighth ...
on October 16, 2021, in
Fresno, California
Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, makin ...
. Despite being the heavy pre-fight betting favorite, Garcia suffered his second professional defeat, when he was outboxed to a
majority decision
A majority decision (MD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and others sports involving striking. In a majority decision, two of the three judges agree on which ...
loss, with scores of 95–95, and 97–93 twice in favor of Martin. In his post-fight interview, Garcia offered his opinion on the fight: "I thought it was a good fight. He
artin
Artin may refer to:
* Artin (name), a surname and given name, including a list of people with the name
** Artin, a variant of Harutyun
Harutyun ( hy, Հարություն and in Western Armenian Յարութիւն) also spelled Haroutioun, Harut ...
fought a very good fight. I thought I did the necessary to close the gap, putting the pressure, looking for the fight. He was the one moving, running around a lot. He countered me a few times, but I was the one actively looking for the fight; I thought I was ahead on the cards."
Summit for brain health
In February 2014, Garcia, along with
Bernard Hopkins
Bernard Hopkins Jr. (born January 15, 1965) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2016. He is one of the most successful boxers of the past three decades, having held multiple world championships in two weight class ...
and a few other such (Jake Adams) athletes, attended a summit at the
Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health
The Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health (LRCBH), officially the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, opened on May 21, 2010, in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is operated by the Cleveland Clinic and was designed by Frank Gehry.
History
Keep Me ...
at the
United States Capitol
The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...
, in support of furthering the research of preventing brain damage and other mental risks in competitive activity. The summit consisted of speeches about preventing brain damage and research to aid already suffering victims.
Professional boxing record
Exhibition boxing record
Filmography
See also
*
Notable boxing families
Notability is the property
of being worthy of notice, having fame, or being considered to be of a high degree of interest, significance, or distinction. It also refers to the capacity to be such. Persons who are notable due to public responsibi ...
*
List of boxing quadruple champions
A quadruple champion in boxing refers to a boxer who has won world titles in four different categories of weight.
Recognition Major sanctioning bodies
There is some dispute on which sanctioning body is considered "major" enough to award champions ...
*
List of featherweight boxing champions Championship recognition
Public Acclamation: 1884 to 1921
Champions were recognized by wide public acclamation. A heavyweight champion was a boxer who had a notable win over another notable boxer and then went without defeat. Retirements from the ...
*
List of super-featherweight boxing champions
This is a list of Super featherweight boxing champions, as recognized by boxing organizations:
* The World Boxing Association (WBA), established in 1921 as the National Boxing Association (NBA).
* The World Boxing Council (WBC), established in 19 ...
*
List of lightweight boxing champions
This is a list of world lightweight boxing champions by organization, as recognized by four of the better-known sanctioning organizations:
* The World Boxing Association (WBA), founded in 1921 as the National Boxing Association (NBA),
* The World ...
*
List of light-welterweight boxing champions
This is a chronological List of World Super Lightweight/Light Welterweight/Junior Welterweight Boxing Champions, as recognized by four of the better-known sanctioning organizations:
* The World Boxing Association (WBA), founded in 1921 as the Nati ...
*
List of Mexican boxing world champions
In Mexico, boxing is considered a major sport, having produced over 200 world champions in professional boxing. Mexico ranks first worldwide between countries with most boxing world champions and is the second country to have world champions accred ...
References
External links
*
Mikey Garcia - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankingsa
Box.Live
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Mikey
1987 births
Living people
World featherweight boxing champions
World super-featherweight boxing champions
World lightweight boxing champions
World light-welterweight boxing champions
World Boxing Organization champions
World Boxing Council champions
International Boxing Federation champions
The Ring (magazine) champions
American male boxers
American boxers of Mexican descent
Boxers from California
Sportspeople from Oxnard, California
Sportspeople from Ventura County, California
Welterweight boxers