MIKEY GARCIA VS. JESSIE VARGAS
Date: Saturday, Feb. 29
Location: Ford Center at The Star, Frisco, Texas
Division: Welterweight
TV: DAZN
Also fighting: Kal Yafai vs. Roman Gonzalez, junior bantamweights (for Yafai’s title); Julio Cesar Martinez vs. Jay Harris, flyweights (for Martinez’s title); Joseph Parker vs. Shawndell Winters, heavyweights; Israil Madrimov vs. Charlie Navarro, junior middleweights.
Background: The decision of Garcia (39-1, 30 KOs) to challenge for Errol Spence Jr.’s 147-pound title last March was bold. It also turned out to be damaging, as he lost a sobering shutout decision. Gone was his perfect record. Gone was the tremendous momentum he had built. And long gone was any aura of invincibility he might’ve had. At the same time, one setback – even one as thorough as that one – doesn’t necessarily mean a fighter should be written off. Let’s not forget that Garcia is a four-division titleholder who had been largely untouchable between 126 and 140 pounds, which was the reason he had climbed onto most pound-for-pound lists. Moving up to 147 to face a fighter of Spence’s caliber was simply an overreach. Vargas (29-2-2, 11 KOs) presents a more reasonable gauge as to whether Garcia can be effective against elite opposition as a welterweight and an opportunity to begin rebuilding whatever he lost against Spence. Vargas hasn’t had an important victory since he stopped Sadam Ali to win his title in March 2016 but he has draws with Adrien Broner and Thomas Dulorme more recently. He’s a solid, experienced fighter who won’t go down easily.
The fight: Garcia, whose technique is as tight as almost anyone’s, is a better boxer than Vargas. The brother of trainer Robert Garcia has demonstrated his ability over and over again against capable opposition. The problem against Spence was the Texan’s formidable combination of size, strength and unusual ability. Vargas can’t match Spence in any of those categories but he is naturally bigger than Garcia and skillful, which could pose challenges for the pound-for-pounder. Vargas probably will try to use his advantages by attacking Garcia from the outset so Garcia can’t get into a rhythm and win rounds. It won’t work. Garcia is strong enough to cope with any size-strength advantage Vargas might have, which will allow him to outbox and possibly hurt Vargas in the later rounds. Both fighters have had long layoffs. Garcia has been out of the ring for almost a year, Vargas for 10 months. So neither has an edge there. One question about Vargas: Will he be comfortable at 147 pounds? In his last fight, a knokckout of Humberto Soto, he fought at 150½ pounds as part of a plan to transition to 154 pounds. Thus, he’ll be coming down to 147. In the end, however, size and strength won’t matter as much as skill. And that’s Garcia’s wheelhouse.
Prediction: Garcia UD