Mikey Garcia

Mikey Garcia a future opponent for Pacquiao, says Arum

garcia564 (2)While WBO super featherweight champion Mikey Garcia (33-0, 28 KO’s) still hasn’t even proven that he’s the best fighter in the 130 lb. division, that’s not keeping his promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank planning on matching the skinny Mikey up against his cash cow fighter Manny Pacquiao in the near future. Arum hasn’t given a date for when he wants to match the 26-year-old Mikey with Pacquiao, but don’t be surprised if it happens really soon if Pacquiao decides to leave Top Rank. His contract is up with the company this year, and anything is possible if this is his final year with them.

“I wouldn’t be surprised as he [Mikey Garcia] gets older to move up to 140 and possibly fight Manny Pacquiao,” Arum said.

Left-Hook Lounge: Is Donaire Done?, Is Andrade Ready?, and Is Mikey Garcia Ready for the P4P list?

donaire44Hannali R. (Reseda, CA): I thought Nonito Donaire proved that he still belongs at the top of the sport with his victory over Darchinyan. How did you rate his performance? And what do you think about Rigondeaux’s bizarre request to stage a rematch in Miami?

Vivek W. (ESB): To be quite frank, I see this purely the opposite of anyone who feels this effort either “places him” or “keeps him” at the top of the sport. What I saw in Donaire was a talent who appeared totally unsure of himself, and very limited – in terms of self confidence. I’m a long time proponent of pure fundamental skills, and although I’d stop short of calling Donaire a “hype job”, when I think of the accolades received that labeled him “Fighter of the Year” and beyond, I’d be the first to say he never really had the level of talent to support such claims. Donaire’s speed and power alone made him a phenom. Beyond those two attributes, he has very little left in the tool kit and we were reminded of this again, last Saturday night.

Photos – Weigh-in: Garcia-Martinez, Donaire-Darchinyan, Martirosyan-Andrade

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Boxing returns to the south this weekend in Corpus Christi, TX for another fall Top Rank tripleheader showdown on HBO Boxing After Dark.

Headlining the card is the WBO Super Featherweight title fight between Mikey Garcia and Roman “Rocky” Martinez. After losing his Featherweight title at the scales earlier this year, Garcia makes a move to the Super Featherweight division to challenge Martinez in another Mexico VS. Puerto Rico clash.

Co-headling the card is a rematch between Nonito Donaire and Vic Darchinyan. In 2007, Donaire derailed the Darchinyan express with a vicious left hook to end their first encounter via KO win for Donaire. Six years in the making, Darchinyan gets his chance at redemption. Having never fought at Featherweight, it will be interesting to see how Darchinyan’s chin holds up at the new weight. A heavy puncher himself, Darchinyan is oozing with confidence by ensuring a victory for himself and Armenia.

Donaire vs. Darchinyan 2 & Garcia vs. Martinez: A bridge to nowhere

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Normally when two elite fighters are co-featured on a card together you can expect the winners (favorites) to be matched up in a (super) fight of sorts at some point in the near future.

It’s a formula that’s been used to build or as Bob Arum would say “marinate”, certain fights that have been labeled by the fans as must see fights.

Usually the promoters put each fighter in a showcase type fight for future highlight replays that will be used as fuel to stoke the fire of a talked about fight.

Some fights never come to fruition due to the inner political issues of the business of boxing.

Rocky Martinez / Mikey Garcia Interview Transcript

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On behalf of Top Rank® and PR Best Boxing we would like to welcome you to today’s conference call with WBO junior lightweight champion Roman “Rocky” Martinez and challenger undefeated former WBO featherweight champion Mikey Garcia. This is the main event of the tripleheader televised live on HBO® Saturday night beginning at 9:30 PM ET/PT from Corpus Christi, Texas. Immediately following the tripleheader telecast on HBO will be the debut of the four-part all-access series “24/7: Pacquiao-Rios”

TODD DUBOEF: We have a terrific show on Saturday night, which opens up with a fantastic fight between the two top-rated contenders — both undefeated former U.S. Olympians — Vanes Martirosyan and Demetrius Andrade battling for the WBO Junior Middleweight title in a division that is getting a lot of interest.

Mikey Garcia – And Another Thing

garcia324By now everyone knows Mikey stopped Juanma, and everyone knows Mikey missed making weight by two pounds. Everyone knows he is undefeated, blah blah blah, but damn if he didn’t demonstrate boxing at its best Saturday night. It was highly entertaining to watch someone who is so good at his job that he makes it look easy. Unfortunately, some fans mistake his level of talent boring, but they fail to understand and appreciate the difficulty involved with making a violent job like his look easy. He transforms a violent sport into one of grace, power and courage. He puts fundamental together in an almost magical way.

What he does resembles the proverbial surgeon. His victories over Solito and Juanma were excellent example of this type of wonderful skill. Generally speaking, surgeons put people back together, but Mikey systematically takes them apart. His kind of skill surpasses that seen in other sports. In several of those sports the beauty and skill manifests itself through such things as a “sweet swing” in tennis, golf or baseball.

Left-Hook Lounge: Mikey Garcia, Malignaggi/Broner, & A Look at Puerto Rico’s Struggling Talent

lopez543Cristian G. (Coral Gables, FL): Can you give your thoughts on Mikey Garcia’s performance and discuss whether or not you think it’s time for us to start putting Mikey Garcia in the P4P debate?

Vivek W. (ESB): I think Garcia has consistently given us the same product, time and time again. He’s not fundamental in the sense of the Mayweather’s, Ward’s, etc, of the world; but he has totally given life to the notion that Mexican warriors, under the right tutelage, are far better than the stalk-til-they-can’t-walk variety. He has some of the best shot selection I’ve seen anywhere in the sport. He places his punches properly, and they all come with vicious intentions. I absolutely love what I see, and as a future star of the sport, I love having him on the scene, because you don’t have to guess what you’re gonna get when the bell rings.

Mikey Garcia could face Rocky Martinez next

garcia55Mikey Garcia’s promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank says he’s thinking about maybe putting him in with WBO super featherweight champion Roman “Rocky” Martinez (27-1-2, 16 KO’s) in what would be Mikey’s first fight at 130 lbs. It’s a good fight for Arum because it’s a fight that he can sell due to Martinez having a large Puerto Rican fan base and Mikey having a large and still growing Mexican fan base. It’s a good fight for that reason, but it’s not the best fight Arum could make as far as a competitive match-up because Martinez is barely hanging onto his WBO title as it is against the guys he’s been facing.

Arum said in an interview with esnewsreporting.com “I think another Puerto Rican, maybe Rocky Martinez.”