Mikey Garcia – Page 10 – Syndication Server

Mikey Garcia drops, outpoints Jesse Vargas in welterweight bout

Mikey Garcia finally got a win at welterweight, but questions still abound as to whether he stands a chance against the elite fighters…

Four-weight division titleholder Mikey Garcia may have raised as many questions as answers about his ability to face the top contenders of the welterweight class.

Saturday night at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, Garcia overcame a slow start against Jesse Vargas, before dropping him in the fifth round en route to a 12-round unanimous decision.

The judges’ scorecards read 114-113, 116-111, and 116-111.

This was Garcia’s first outing in the ring since his lopsided points loss last spring to Errol Spence Jr., a native of Dallas who happened to be sitting ringside.

Early on Vargas, the bigger man, outworked Garcia, a natural lightweight, scoring with the jab and straight rights to the body. Vargas also connected on a few hard left hooks that kept Garcia on his toes. Case in point, in Round 4, Vargas managed to briefly stagger Garcia with a hook that landed right on the temple.

“Well, I did have to make adjustments,” Garcia admitted afterward. “I had to get adjusted to (Vargas’) height, his reach, natural size, but as the fight went on I felt like I was hurting him and closing the distance.”

Indeed, the momentum began to shift midway through Round 5, when Garcia started to successfully time Vargas with a series of hare straight rights, one of which caused Vargas to have a bad case of jake leg and retreat to a corner. Garcia followed up with a booming one-two combination right down the middle of the guard that flattened Vargas for the lone knockdown of the fight.

But Vargas, as is his wont, was able to hang on. Moreover, he had a few positive moments that may have won him some of the late rounds.

“He’s a big man. Jesse’s a big man,” Garcia said, “but my talent was able to overcome that.

“I felt that my speed and my power was all perfect and I was able to put it into effect against the bigger guy.”

Still, some of the tops fighters of the welterweight division – Vargas is a fringe contender, at best – may be a bridge too far for Garcia. Looking ahead, Garcia reiterated his desire to face titleholder Manny Pacquiao in the summer. He also floated the idea of facing Spence again.

“I think I have great options,” Garcia said. “I’m ready to get back in the ring with the best. I would love to get a match with Manny Pacquiao or a rematch with Errol Spence. I want to continue campaigning at 147.”

This was Garcia’s fight fight with promoter Eddie Hearn on the DAZN streaming platform. Hearn has said that Saudi Arabia remains deeply interested in staging a potential Pacquiao-Garcia bout.

Roman Gonzalez stops Kal Yafai in 9th round

Roman Gonzalez is back on top of the junior bantamweight division after he beat up Kal Yafai, stopping him in the ninth round…

He’s back.

Roman Gonzalez, perhaps the most accomplished fighter of the lower weight classes of the past decade, is a junior bantamweight titleholder once again after he stopped undefeated Khalid Yafai in the ninth round Saturday night at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco Texas on the Mikey Garcia-Jesse Vargas card.

“God gave me my title back,” Gonzalez, now a two-time 115-pound titlist, said postfight.

It was more like a mugging.

The Nicaraguan, who has earned titles in four weight classes, sliced and diced Yafai on the inside all fight long, strafing the Birmingham native with a deluge of short punches. By Round 9, Gonzalez had softened up Yafai like a marshmallow. With one well-placed right hand, he sent Yafai crashing to the canvas. The defending titleholder tried to get up, but stumbled, prompting referee Luis Pabon to wave off the bout 29 seconds into the round.

The win marks a remarkable turnaround for a fighter who is already a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame someday. After suffering two back-to-back losses Thailand’s Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, including a hellacious drubbing in the rematch, in 2017, Gonazalez has had to overcome several other setbacks, notably surgery to his knee and the death of his longtime trainer. There was some concern that Gonzalez would never be the same, given the wear and tear of nearly 50 fights at 32 years of age.

But as far removed as he may be from his prime, against Yafai, Gonzalez was clearly in top form.

“When I lost (to Sor Rungvisai), yes (it was tough), but I had a good team around me and they brought me back,” Gonzalez said. “I thank first and foremost (promoter) Mr. (Akihiko) Honda and Eddie Hearn for giving me the opportunity to become a world champion once again.”

It didn’t take long for flashes of the vintage Gonzalez (48-2, 40 KOs) to appear in the ring. Rifling one fluid combination after another on the inside in Round 2, Gonzalez briefly troubled Yafai (26-1, 15 KOs) with an uppercut the Birmingham native. Gonzalez said he was surprised that Yafai, known for his preference for fighting on the outside, was willing to trade punches in the trenches.

Gonzalez began to take over beginning in Round 5. He administered a serious beating of Yafai in Round 7, courtesy of a series of unanswered right hands and followed up with more of the same in the next round. By this point, Yafai was simply on borrowed time.

The victory could set up some intriguing rematch possibilities for Gonzalez, chief of which is a unification bout with fellow titleholder Juan Francisco Estrada. Gonzalez defeated Estrada back in 2012. It would be a relatively easy fight to make, considering both fighters are aligned with broadcaster DAZN and promoter Hearn.

Another one is a rematch against Sor Rungvisai, who is also aligned with DAZN/Hearn.

Gonzalez welcomed both options.

“I want to try to unify some titles, that’s my dream,” he said.

Julio Cesar Martinez outpoints Jay Harris in first flyweight title defense

Julio Cesar Martinez beat Jay Harris in a much more closely contested fight than was reflected in the judges scorecards Saturday night…

Julio Cesar Martinez didn’t get the stoppage that most expected him to get for his first defense of his flyweight title, but he put up a dominating performance anyway.

In a fervent 12-rounder, Martinez out-slugged untested Jay Harris, dropping him once en route to a unanimous decision win Saturday night at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco Texas on the Mikey Garcia-Jesse Vargas card.

The judges scored it 118-109, 116-111 and 115-112, all for the 25-year-old Martinez, who had previously never gone the distance in a 12-round bout.

“Thank God, it was a very tough battle,” said Martinez, who earned his flyweight trinket by defeating Cristofer Rosales in a vacant title shot in December. “I’ll defend this title many times. There is no fear right here.”

An entertaining offensive fighter who throws punches with abandon, Martinez (16-1, 12 KOs) started off fast and appeared to be on track for an early stoppage. But Harris (17-1, 9 KOs), from Swansea, Wales, was far more game than expected. While his head snapped back repeatedly from Martinez’s hard-winging shots early on, Harris was able to put up a decent fight in the second half of the bout. He worked diligently behind a jab and consistently answered Martinez’s flurries with his own combinations. Harris also repeatedly dug himself out of holes. In Round 7, Harris looked as though he was going to get stopped, but he fought back to arguably win the round.

Martinez’s commitment to the body paid off thirty seconds into Round 10, when he landed a hard left and right to the flanks that forced Harris to take a knee. Nevertheless, Harris was able to beat the count.

Asked if Harris surprised him at all, Martinez said, “Harris is a very strong fighter. I know that’s why he was undefeated.”

A possible matchup could be a unification against Japan’s Kosei Tanaka.

Joseph Parker returns with 5th-round knockout of Shawndell Winters

Joseph Parker returned from an extended layoff to defeat Shawndell Winters with a fifth-round knockout in Frisco, Texas.

Joseph Parker is done itching his spider bite. He’s now itching for a big fight.

The Auckland, New Zealand native returned from an eight-month layoff to knock off Shawndell Winters inside five rounds at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco Texas on the undercard of Mikey Garcia-Jesse Vargas.

Late in Round 5, Parker staggered Winters badly with a right hand and followed up with a right-left hook-right combination that decked Winters to the canvas for the second and final time in the fight. Referee Rosario Solis waved off the fight at the 2:40 mark.

Parker (27-2, 21 KOs) was originally scheduled to face British contender Dereck Chisora last October but a freak spider bite led to that fight’s cancellation

“A win’s a win,” Parker said afterward. “You gotta take the win and I’ll leave it up to (promoter) Eddie (Hearn) and the team to lock up another fight soon.”

Parker scored the first knockdown of Winters (13-3, 12 KOs) late in Round 3, Winters would survive and go on to have himself a decent Round 4, in which he landed a left hook that opened up a cut over Parker’s right eye. The Illinois native also caught Parker clean with a slew of uppercuts and hooks on the inside.

But Parker would have the final say, responding emphatically in Round 5.

“I have to work on being a bit more patient and making my punches more meaningful,” Parker said.

The Kiwi heavyweight noted he is still interested in facing Chisora, who is scheduled to go up against Oleksandr Usyk later this summer, or having a rematch with Dillian Whyte.

“I want to keep busy and hopefully get two more fights this year and finish off with a bang later this year,” he said.

Jessie Vargas fighting to prove he’s among best 147-pounders

Jessie Vargas can jump from from secondary to top-of-the-welterweight charts in an intriguing bout against Mikey Garcia Saturday on DAZN.

Jessie Vargas, the so-called B-side for as long he can remember, has a chance to flip his long-playing resume.

He can jump from B to A, from secondary to top-of-the-welterweight charts, in an intriguing bout against Mikey Garcia on Saturday night in Frisco, Texas on DAZN.

At one level, it’s a crossroads fight for both. For the ever-stubborn Garcia (39-1, 30 KOs), it’s chance to knock out the memory of the sobering loss to Errol Spence Jr. with a performance that proves he belongs at welterweight. For Vargas (29-2-2, 11 KOs), it’s an opportunity to show that he has always been there, among the best at 147 pounds.

“I plan on giving a fantastic performance, so you acknowledge that I’m the best in the division,’’ Vargas said this week during the final news conference.

Mikey Garcia (left) and Jessie Vargas have much to prove in their welterweight fight Saturday in Frisco, Texas on DAZN. Amanda Westcott / DAZN

Vargas, who has seen how the business works from his role as a ringside commentator, doesn’t have many illusions about why he’s fighting Garcia. He has a well-known name, he has held a couple of belts and his record includes losses by decision only to Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley, two of the biggest names in the game. He’s a solid opponent

“I want the best Jessie Vargas,’’ said Garcia, a Top 5 pound-for-pound contender until Spence.

Garcia needs the best Vargas to get beyond the loss to Spence, who was bigger and better than the multi-skilled Garcia. Vargas is bigger and perhaps that will be enough to convince Garcia that he should have stayed at junior welterweight or lightweight.

Vargas, insightful behind the ringside mike, has studied Garcia. He says he has spent hours looking at video of Garcia’s loss to Spence, his knockout of Roman Martinez and his technical decision over Orlando Salido.

“We’ve picked up on some things, noticed things here and there,’’ Vargas said. “This isn’t an easy fight, but either way I’m coming to win. I’ve done my homework. Mikey is a good fighter, and I’ve looked into some of his past fights.

“We have a big night ahead of us against Garcia. I’m very much prepared. I trained very hard the last two months. It’s the best training camp I’ve had to date. I know what’s ahead of me and I know the opportunity in front of me. I trained my [butt] off for two months, following the game plan. I’ve never looked this good in the ring. I’m feeling good,’’

Good enough, maybe, to finally be the A-side.

Roman Gonzalez faces stiff test against titleholder Kal Yafai

Mikey Garcia vs. Jessie Vargas: Boxing Junkie breakdown

Mikey Garcia will likely be more competitive against Jessie Vargas Saturday than he was in his last fight, a shutout loss to Errol Spence.

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

Pound-for-pound: King Tyson can’t be denied after that performance

Tyson Fury climbs from honorable mention to No. 8 on the Boxing Junkie pound-for-pound list after stopping Deontay Wilder on Saturday.

The pound-for-pound concept was devised as a means of comparing fighters regardless of weight.

For example, not so long ago, we could’ve asked: Who would’ve won a bout between Floyd Mayweather and Wladimir Klitschko had they been the same size? Easy. Mayweather, whose skill set was far superior to that of the big Ukrainian and everyone else.

So where does Tyson Fury fit into the equation after his tremendous performance against Deontay Wilder on Saturday in Las Vegas?

Fury, who has been an honorable mention on the Boxing Junkie pound-for-pound list for some time, dominated a feared, previously unbeaten opponent en route to a spectacular seventh-round stoppage before a sell-out crowd at the MGM Grand.

That kind of performance — on that kind of stage — certainly works in Fury’s favor. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean that Fury would stack up favorably against the stars that make our Top 10 if they fought in same division.

In the end, we decided after some back-and-forth discussion that we had to elevate Fury into the Top 10 in light of his dominance on Saturday but we didn’t want to get carried away: He jumps to No. 8, behind Errol Spence Jr. but ahead of Juan Francisco Estrada. That pushes Kosei Tanaka (No. 15 on the most-recent list) to honorable mention.

Of course, another victory over Wilder or one over Anthony Joshua in an all-U.K. title-unification bout by Fury could push him even higher.

Check out our pound-for-pound list below. And let us know what you think.

BOXING JUNKIE

POUND-FOR-POUND

Vasiliy Lomachenko
Terence Crawford
Canelo Alvarez
Naoya Inoue
Oleksandr Usyk
Gennadiy Golovkin
Errol Spence Jr.
Tyson Fury
Juan Francisco Estrada
Mikey Garcia
Artur Beterbiev
Josh Taylor
Manny Pacquiao
Srisaket Sor Rungvisai
Leo Santa Cruz

Honorable mention (alphabetical order): Miguel Berchelt, Mairis Briedis, Teofimo Lopez, Shawn Porter and Kosei Tanaka

Tyson Fury prepared to face Anthony Joshua if Deontay wilder opts out

Good, bad, worse: Tyson Fury had perfect game plan, perfect execution

Tyson Fury beats the heavyweight title out of Deontay Wilder

Mikey Garcia: ‘I’m not done, there’s a lot more to accomplish’

Mikey Garcia will face Jessie Vargas on Feb. 29, his first step in proving to fans that his loss to Errol Spence Jr. wan an aberration.

Mikey Garcia returns to the state where he jumped up the scale and fell into the loss column for the first time. The travel plans haven’t changed, other than the wrong side of his record. He doesn’t intend to go back there.

But he is staying at welterweight in a risky fight against Jessie Vargas on Feb. 29 on DAZN in Frisco, Texas, not far from the AT&T Stadium in Arlington where he lost a one-sided decision to Errol Spence Jr. last March in his first bout at 147 pounds.

The motivation is a title in a fifth division. He has held belts at featherweight, junior lightweight and lightweight. He also won a couple of junior welterweight titles, first against Adrien Broner and then Sergey Lipinets. He then went back down to 135 before the bold move up the scale and into futility.

Spence beat him in just about every way in a ring at about the 50-yard line on the Dallas Cowboys home field. But he didn’t beat the bold out of him. Garcia is still as ambitious as ever.

Mikey Garcia seems to be as confident now as he was moments before his loss to Errol Spence Jr. AP Photo / Richard W. Rodriguez

“A world title in a fifth division is very exciting. I would love to fight for a title again at 147 pounds. Claiming a world title in a fifth division would be amazing, and that’s why I am staying at 147,’’ Garcia (39-1, 30KOs) said. “But there are other motivations for me in the sport. I’m not done, there’s a lot more to accomplish. After this fight, I’ll look at options at 147 and 140 pounds.

“I’m not stuck at either weight, I’m keeping my options open.’’

First, there’s Vargas. Lose to him and there are no options. Vargas (29-2-2, 11 KOs) has a draw with Broner. He lost to Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley. He goes into the fight with a couple of noteworthy physical advantages. At 5-foot-11, he is five inches taller than Garcia, who is listed at 5-6. With a 71-inch reach, he has a three-inch edge over Garcia.

“I think that there’s a lot more that I can do at 147 pounds,” said Garcia, No. 9 on Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list. “The Spence fight was not a representation of that. It wasn’t my night and not the fight that I wanted to fight. I just couldn’t perform, and once in a while you have an off night, and it happened to be that night for me. I need to show my fans and the boxing world that I can do a lot more, even at 147 pounds.’’

An impressive performance against Vargas would help him and fans forget about the disappointing performance against Spence.

“I have a lot of legacy to build still,” he said. “I want to create a bigger legacy for myself and for my family. I’m not done. I still feel I have a lot more to accomplish, and I know I will. I’m in the prime of my career right now. There’s no looking back or stopping me right now.

“I consider this the third stage of my career because I am coming off a loss. Can I come back stronger and better than before, or am I done? Past my prime? That’s why I’m here to prove it to everyone that I’m not any less than what you saw in previous years. In fact, I am only getting better. I’m not declining at all. I’m fast, strong and talented, and I consider this next part to be the best years of my career.”

Joseph Parker hopes to put bite on Shawndell Winters on Feb. 29

Heavyweight Joseph Parker is scheduled to face Shawndell Winters on the Mikey Garcia-Jessie Vargas card Feb. 29 in Frisco, Texas.

Joseph Parker envisions a second world title. That’s the ambition. But to get there he has to start anew while also avoiding any rematches with dangerous insects. He might be the only heavyweight in history making a comeback from a spider bite.

It looks as if a spider did what no heavyweight has to Parker. It put him down and knocked him out of the heavyweight division’s title mix. He was forced to withdraw from a scheduled bout with Derek Chisora in October when he began to feel ill and fatigued. It was determined that he was suffering from the venom of a poisonous spider

But the poison is gone and the ambition is back as Parker resumes his quest Feb. 29 against Shawndell Winters on a DAZN card featuring welterweights Mikey Garcia vs. Jessie Vargas in Frisco, Texas.

“It was frustrating to be ruled out of the Chisora fight in October, especially in such an unusual way,’’ Parker (26-2, 20 KOs) said after Matchroom Promotions announced the fight this week. “But I have been on fire in the gym in Las Vegas and we’re ready to get back to business. The division is moving at a great pace and this is a perfect opportunity to show the world that I am one of the elite players in the division.’’

Parker won a heavyweight belt in a majority decision over Andy Ruiz Jr. in December 2016 at home in New Zealand. He defended it twice. Then, he lost it in a decision to Anthony Joshua in March 2018 in Cardiff, Wales. A few months later, 2018 just got worse for Parker, who lost a decision to Dillian Whyte in July in the U.K. He went on to win two bouts. But the road back went awry by something unforeseen. Nobody saw the spider.

In Winters (13-2,12 KOs), Parker faces an unknown heavyweight from Harvey, Illinois. Twelve knockouts in 13 victories indicate he has power.

“This is the biggest fight of my career and I am going to make it count,” said Winters, who is promoted by Lou DiBella. “I am used to being the underdog. It’s something that I thrive on, and if Joseph Parker underestimates me, he’s going to be in for a bad night, because I am going in there to take him out.’’

Danny Garcia wants Spence or Pacquiao but won’t wait forever

Danny Garcia’s father and trainer Angel Garcia wants an answer from Errol Spence or Manny Pacquiao by the end of February.

After a dominating 12-round victory over Ivan Redkach, Danny Garcia can set his sights on a big fight later this year, ideally with either Manny Pacquiao or Errol Spence Jr. But he is not willing to wait around forever for his welterweight cohorts.

Father and trainer Angel Garcia told Boxing Junkie that he wants a decision from Pacquiao or Spence sooner rather than later.

“I want an answer from whoever [wants to fight] by the end of February,” said the elder Garcia, who noted that they want the potential pay-per-view fight to take place in July.

Angel Garcia wants to force a deadline so that his son’s career isn’t waylaid.

“We’re not waiting,” he said. “We’re not going to do like last year. We waited for no reason.”

Last year, Garcia fought only once, a quick knockout of Adrian Granados. Angel Garcia believed they were in line for a second fight, a pay-per-view level event, in the latter of the 2019, but the opponents had other plans.

“We wasted a date,” Angel Garcia said. “We wasted a day last year for no reason. So we need to know by the end of February, then we can move on.

“If they want to do it, sign the contract.”

The goal is to fight at least twice — possibly three times — this year, he added. Danny Garcia after his victory Saturday that he would also be interested in a rematch with Keith Thurman or a fight with Mikey Garcia.

Several caveats are at play. Pacquiao has repeatedly hinted that he wants to face Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a rematch of their 2015 meeting. Recently, he has also expressed interest in a crossover bout with UFC’s Conor McGregor.

Spence is coming off a devastating car crash last October. It’s not clear when he will return, although he mentioned he could fight again as soon as summer. Returning against a foe of Garcia’s caliber seems unlikely.

Angel Garcia hinted that if options begin to look limited, he could see his son moving up to the 154-pound division.

“We gotta do what we gotta do,” he said. “It’s up to Danny.”

Danny Garcia outpoints Ivan Redkach in forgettable bout

Line between boxing, MMA i$ getting thinner every day