It's become somewhat popular in recent years to talk about how poor American boxing is. The top fighters such as Floyd Mayweather Jr, Bernard Hopkins and Andre Ward are known as being somewhat boring despite their talent and for many the excitement is being sapped slowly out of American fighting.
One man who has been able to buck that trend is Mexican-American Mikey Garcia (32-0, 27), a man many are proclaiming as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet despite the fact he is just 25 years old.
What Garcia has done so well this far in his career is combine explosive power with fantastic counter punching and perfect judgement of distance. Garcia doesn't give opponents many opportunities but when he gets even a whiff of a chance to land his potent right hand he makes sure to connect. No one seems to like taking Garcia's lethal power more than once or twice and it's little wonder that he has stopped so many opponents.
This weekend we see Garcia stepping up from the Featherweight division to start his campaign at Super Featherweight. A move up caused by Garcia's inability to make the 126lb Featherweight division comfortably, something that saw him stripped of his WBO title last time out when he defeated Juan Manuel Lopez.
In a somewhat symbolic move Garcia leaves the Featherweight division by defeating a Puerto Rican and begins his journey in the Super Featherweight by facing on a Puerto Rican as he battles WBO Super Featherweight champion Roman Martinez (27-1-2, 16), a man who many feel has been living on borrowed time in recent contests.
Whilst Garcia is a wonderful boxer-puncher it's far to say that Martinez is more of a fighter. The Puerto Rican is flawed though tough, hard working and determined to win. He's not pretty by any stretch of the imagination but he's proven to be very happy to take one to land one. Unfortunately however for Martinez he's now looking somewhat like a "done" fighter and was very fortunate in his last 3 contests as he scored controversial victories over Miguel Beltran Jr and Diego Magdaleno as well a very suspect draw with Juan Carlos Burgos.
Although Martinez has been fortunate in his recent bouts he has been fighting busy fighters. Against Garcia it's fair to say that Martinez is facing a much more measured opponent. Of course Garcia is a more complete boxer than Beltran, Burgos and Magdaleno but if Martinez can take his power this could be a long night for the American youngster.
On the flipside however Martinez has been taking more and more shots. His last 3 bouts in particular were all very hard and those wars do age a fighter, especially when Martinez himself was never a great defensive boxer. If Martinez cannot cut the space off quickly then he will merely be charging on to the hard and heavy shots of Garcia, shots that have explosive and concussive power. If this happens I wouldn't be shocked to see Martinez suffer his first stoppage loss and for Garcia to become a 2-weight world champion.
Prediction-Garcia TKO7
Showing posts with label Mikey Garcia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mikey Garcia. Show all posts
Friday, 8 November 2013
Friday, 14 June 2013
Mikey Garcia v Juan Manuel Lopez
After several busy weeks this weekend has just a solitary world title fight though it is a very intriguing one as WBO Featherweight champion Mikey Garcia (31-0, 26) defends his title for the first time. Garcia will be facing the ever popular Puerto Rican Juan Manuel Lopez (33-2, 30) who looks to re-establish himself in the world of boxing after almost dropping off the proverbial map when he appeared for super stardom.
Mexican-American Garcia is arguably the standout fighter from his brother Robert Garcia 's gym and despite the gyms reputation for having brawling swarmers Mikey is a very, very talented pure boxer with an amazing outside game. Mikey combines explosive power, very sharp punching, a wonderful understanding of range and amazing time to tag fighters with counters and shots as they come in.
On the inside Garcia has a lot of questions to answer however due to his excellent skill he's never been forced to answer those questions instead tying up his opponents and forcing the referee to split them before landing his hurtful straight shots. A technique similar to that employed by Wladimir Klitschko and just as effective (if not more so in fact). It's this outside of game Garcia that makes him so outstanding and so tough to get to, just ask the usually durable Orlando Salido who dropped at will be Garcia last time out.
Although Garcia has only been in 1 "world title bout" he has been mixing in and around the fringe of world class for quite a while. His victory over Orlando Salido last time out was clearly the best win on his record though victories over Jonathan Victor Barros, Bernabe Concepcion, Cornelius Lock have all been solid victories. In fact actually going through Garcia's record we see a record that looks genuinely solid with victories over Robinson Castellanos, Walter Estrada, Tomas Villa, Oliver Lontchi and Matt Remmillard all standing out to various degrees.
With power, skill, youth (he's just 25) and a fantastic boxing brain on his shoulders the future is incredibly bright for Garcia who could very easily claim a title at Super Featherweight, Lightweight and possibly (though it'd be pushing it) Light Welterweight before his career is over.
In Juan Manuel Lopez we have one of boxing's "must watch" fighters. He combines thunderous power, good looks, a fantastic heart and very good timing with questionable stamina and poor defense. He's fun to watch in both victories and defeats though unfortunately he's also a fighter who does seem to talk before realising quite what he's saying.
Lopez first burst on to the scene in 2008 when he swatted away Daniel Ponce De Leon for the WBO Super Bantamweight title in a jaw dropping 145 seconds to become a world champion. As a result of the victory over Ponce De Leon, Lopez had moved to a very impressive 22-0 (20) and at just 24 years old he was boxing's new star in the making.
The Puerto Rican had actually been very impressive in his bouts leading up to the Ponce De Leon fight and remained impressive following it as he defended the belt 5 times. Although he had blasted out his first 4 challengers he was given a torrid time by Rogers Mtagwa in the final defense before moving up to Featherweight.
In the Featherweight division Lopez impressed again as a weight up seemed to free him of the issues he was having in making the 122lb limit. He would quickly claim the WBO title there and defend it 3 times as fans bayed to see him face Cuban sensation Yuriorkis Gamboa. Sadly the fans never got their dream as Lopez was stopped by the aforementioned Orlando Salido in 2011.
Since the loss to Salido Lopez has never quite looked the same fight and despite winning 3 of 4 bouts (losing again to Salido in a rematch) he hasn't really recorded a win of note (Mike Oliver, whilst boasting an impressive record wasn't notable in the grand scale of things).
Against Salido we found a man who could take Lopez's power and walk through it whilst firing back and eventually grinding down Lopez. Both the Salido fights were wars and seem to have taken their toll on Lopez who at just 29 years old is a fighter who appears to be on the slide. His boxing, whilst once solid has taken a backwards step as he fell in love with his power and against a talented boxer/boxer--puncher or a hard nosed fighter Lopez can be made to look relatively poor.
Going in to this bout the only way I can imagine a win for Lopez is if he can plant a bomb on Garcia very early that catches the champion cold. If Lopez cannot tag Garcia very early then the result seems a forgone one. The talented Garcia will simply land his own powerful, straight snappy shots between the slower shots of Lopez and eventually force a stoppage (maybe even a clean KO).
Lopez has got bucket loads of heart so won't be stopped very early but will be stopped eventually when Garcia decides to just put his foot on the gas.
Prediction-Garcia TKO6
Mexican-American Garcia is arguably the standout fighter from his brother Robert Garcia 's gym and despite the gyms reputation for having brawling swarmers Mikey is a very, very talented pure boxer with an amazing outside game. Mikey combines explosive power, very sharp punching, a wonderful understanding of range and amazing time to tag fighters with counters and shots as they come in.
On the inside Garcia has a lot of questions to answer however due to his excellent skill he's never been forced to answer those questions instead tying up his opponents and forcing the referee to split them before landing his hurtful straight shots. A technique similar to that employed by Wladimir Klitschko and just as effective (if not more so in fact). It's this outside of game Garcia that makes him so outstanding and so tough to get to, just ask the usually durable Orlando Salido who dropped at will be Garcia last time out.
Although Garcia has only been in 1 "world title bout" he has been mixing in and around the fringe of world class for quite a while. His victory over Orlando Salido last time out was clearly the best win on his record though victories over Jonathan Victor Barros, Bernabe Concepcion, Cornelius Lock have all been solid victories. In fact actually going through Garcia's record we see a record that looks genuinely solid with victories over Robinson Castellanos, Walter Estrada, Tomas Villa, Oliver Lontchi and Matt Remmillard all standing out to various degrees.
With power, skill, youth (he's just 25) and a fantastic boxing brain on his shoulders the future is incredibly bright for Garcia who could very easily claim a title at Super Featherweight, Lightweight and possibly (though it'd be pushing it) Light Welterweight before his career is over.
In Juan Manuel Lopez we have one of boxing's "must watch" fighters. He combines thunderous power, good looks, a fantastic heart and very good timing with questionable stamina and poor defense. He's fun to watch in both victories and defeats though unfortunately he's also a fighter who does seem to talk before realising quite what he's saying.
Lopez first burst on to the scene in 2008 when he swatted away Daniel Ponce De Leon for the WBO Super Bantamweight title in a jaw dropping 145 seconds to become a world champion. As a result of the victory over Ponce De Leon, Lopez had moved to a very impressive 22-0 (20) and at just 24 years old he was boxing's new star in the making.
The Puerto Rican had actually been very impressive in his bouts leading up to the Ponce De Leon fight and remained impressive following it as he defended the belt 5 times. Although he had blasted out his first 4 challengers he was given a torrid time by Rogers Mtagwa in the final defense before moving up to Featherweight.
In the Featherweight division Lopez impressed again as a weight up seemed to free him of the issues he was having in making the 122lb limit. He would quickly claim the WBO title there and defend it 3 times as fans bayed to see him face Cuban sensation Yuriorkis Gamboa. Sadly the fans never got their dream as Lopez was stopped by the aforementioned Orlando Salido in 2011.
Since the loss to Salido Lopez has never quite looked the same fight and despite winning 3 of 4 bouts (losing again to Salido in a rematch) he hasn't really recorded a win of note (Mike Oliver, whilst boasting an impressive record wasn't notable in the grand scale of things).
Against Salido we found a man who could take Lopez's power and walk through it whilst firing back and eventually grinding down Lopez. Both the Salido fights were wars and seem to have taken their toll on Lopez who at just 29 years old is a fighter who appears to be on the slide. His boxing, whilst once solid has taken a backwards step as he fell in love with his power and against a talented boxer/boxer--puncher or a hard nosed fighter Lopez can be made to look relatively poor.
Going in to this bout the only way I can imagine a win for Lopez is if he can plant a bomb on Garcia very early that catches the champion cold. If Lopez cannot tag Garcia very early then the result seems a forgone one. The talented Garcia will simply land his own powerful, straight snappy shots between the slower shots of Lopez and eventually force a stoppage (maybe even a clean KO).
Lopez has got bucket loads of heart so won't be stopped very early but will be stopped eventually when Garcia decides to just put his foot on the gas.
Prediction-Garcia TKO6
Thursday, 17 January 2013
Orlando Salido v Miguel Angel Garcia
It's not often a fighter with a "journeyman" looking record can become the #1 guy in a division, though according to Ring Magazine this weekend gives WBO champion Orlando Salido (39-11-2-1, 27) a chance to do just that, if he can get by the undefeated Miguel "Mikey" Angel Garcia (30-0, 26) in what promises to be an enthralling match up.
Whilst many may feel that unbeaten Indonesian Chris John is the Linear Champion (having taken the title from Juan Manuel Marquez back in 2006) it's also fair that John has done little to back up his claim of being the top man in the division whilst others, including Salido, have faced some genuine great competition. In fact many felt, after Yuriokris Gamboa's move to Super Featherweight that Salido was, buy rights, the top guy at the weight having scored notable wins over Juan Manuel Lopez (twice). Stylistically however Lopez was made for Salido, whilst a number of others at the weight at much less "made to order".
The 32 year old Salido of Mexico is as tough as old boots and an example of a fighter developing with age. He's been a professional since 1996 and despite starting his career 8-6-1 (4) with 5 T/KO losses he has really built his career on a solid work ethic and learning from his experiences. Amazingly despite those early stoppage defeats he's not been stopped in his subsequent 38 bouts, many of which have been in and around world level.
It wasn't until 2004 that Salido got his first taste of world title fighting when he lost an enthralling bout with Juan Manuel Marquez. Just 18 months after losing to Marquez, Salido would defeat Rogers Mtagwa in an IBF Eliminator before defeating Robert Guerrero for the IBF Featherweight title. Sadly for Salido he tested positive for a banned substance (which he hotly disputed having taken, and may very well have been a false positive) and the title was swiftly stripped from around his waist.
Almost 2 years after having his win over Guerrero scratched from the record book Salido was given another chance to claim the IBF title as he faced Cristobal Cruz for the vacant title. Against Cruz both men gave it their all throwing over 1000 punches a piece though Cruz narrowly took the split decision. A rematch in 2010 saw an improved Salido dropping Cruz twice to claim the title via clear unanimous decision to finally become a world champion.
Sadly for Salido his first title reign lasted just 4 months until he was beaten by Cuban sensation Yuriorkis Gamboa who unified his own WBA title with the IBF title then held by Salido. Thankfully however Salido didn't need to wait long for a chance to reclaim a portion of the world title stopping Puerto Rican Juan Manuel Lopez just 7 months after losing to Gamboa. Since claiming the WBO title from Lopez, Salido has defended his title twice (stopping both Kenichi Yamaguchi and Lopez in a rematch) to reaffirm his place amongst the top guys at 126lbs.
In terms of Salido the fighter he combines relentless work rate, a huge heart, a solid chin and hurtful grinding power that can break a fighter either mentally or physically. Although he can be hurt, and dropped (in fact he's been dropped in 2 of his last bouts amongst numerous other knockdowns) he has a knack of getting back, biting down on his gum shield, recovering and coming straight back at a fighter trying to get revenge. He may not be the most skilled, the most patient or the most silky in the ring but he's one of the most relentless and stubborn fighters in the sport right now.
Whilst Salido has been fighting in an around the world level for quite some time this will be the foray in to that class for his challenger Miguel Angel Garcia, a product of his brother's (Robert Garcia) boxing gym in Oxnard California. The same gym that has seen the rise of the all action Brandon Rios.
Unlike many of his gym mates Garcia isn't an all out brawler but instead a patient and calculated counter puncher with real venom on his shots. He combines a cute boxing brain with excellent timing and fantastic shot selection which sees him landing at an alarming percent of his power shots. It's these clean counter shots and a solid defense that has seen him rising in the world rankings in recent years and scoring notable wins over the likes of Cornelius Lock, Olivier Lontchi, Matt Remillard, Bernabe Concepcion and the very tough Jonathan Victor Barros.
Despite having been a professional since 2006 Garcia is now just 25 and coming into his physical peak. He might be young but with 30 fights, 138 professional rounds and countless tough sparring sessions he's also very experienced and has seen pretty much everything before in the gym where he has continually been with top tier fighters (including not just Rios but also Kelly Pavlik and Marcos Maidana). This has helped him keep his head level in his biggest fights to date and may well help him against Salido.
Going into this bout Garcia has got numerous problems. Whilst he may be the younger, fresher guy and he may have a superior reach he also has a low work rate, he's never been in a live fight with a guy like Salido (who like Brandon Rios, doesn't know the meaning of the word quit) and he's never been the 12 round distance (having only twice gone 9 or more rounds). I dare say that although Garcia has seen everything this could be the difference between seeing it in a safe gym environment and a true ring war, and if Salido is still the same fighter he was when he stopped Lopez I dare say he eventually grinds down a slightly panicked Garcia in the later rounds. Sure Garcia doesn't give himself away like Lopez but his lack of 12 round experience does leave him looking very vulnerable here.
Prediction-Salido TKO11
Whilst many may feel that unbeaten Indonesian Chris John is the Linear Champion (having taken the title from Juan Manuel Marquez back in 2006) it's also fair that John has done little to back up his claim of being the top man in the division whilst others, including Salido, have faced some genuine great competition. In fact many felt, after Yuriokris Gamboa's move to Super Featherweight that Salido was, buy rights, the top guy at the weight having scored notable wins over Juan Manuel Lopez (twice). Stylistically however Lopez was made for Salido, whilst a number of others at the weight at much less "made to order".
The 32 year old Salido of Mexico is as tough as old boots and an example of a fighter developing with age. He's been a professional since 1996 and despite starting his career 8-6-1 (4) with 5 T/KO losses he has really built his career on a solid work ethic and learning from his experiences. Amazingly despite those early stoppage defeats he's not been stopped in his subsequent 38 bouts, many of which have been in and around world level.
It wasn't until 2004 that Salido got his first taste of world title fighting when he lost an enthralling bout with Juan Manuel Marquez. Just 18 months after losing to Marquez, Salido would defeat Rogers Mtagwa in an IBF Eliminator before defeating Robert Guerrero for the IBF Featherweight title. Sadly for Salido he tested positive for a banned substance (which he hotly disputed having taken, and may very well have been a false positive) and the title was swiftly stripped from around his waist.
Almost 2 years after having his win over Guerrero scratched from the record book Salido was given another chance to claim the IBF title as he faced Cristobal Cruz for the vacant title. Against Cruz both men gave it their all throwing over 1000 punches a piece though Cruz narrowly took the split decision. A rematch in 2010 saw an improved Salido dropping Cruz twice to claim the title via clear unanimous decision to finally become a world champion.
Sadly for Salido his first title reign lasted just 4 months until he was beaten by Cuban sensation Yuriorkis Gamboa who unified his own WBA title with the IBF title then held by Salido. Thankfully however Salido didn't need to wait long for a chance to reclaim a portion of the world title stopping Puerto Rican Juan Manuel Lopez just 7 months after losing to Gamboa. Since claiming the WBO title from Lopez, Salido has defended his title twice (stopping both Kenichi Yamaguchi and Lopez in a rematch) to reaffirm his place amongst the top guys at 126lbs.
In terms of Salido the fighter he combines relentless work rate, a huge heart, a solid chin and hurtful grinding power that can break a fighter either mentally or physically. Although he can be hurt, and dropped (in fact he's been dropped in 2 of his last bouts amongst numerous other knockdowns) he has a knack of getting back, biting down on his gum shield, recovering and coming straight back at a fighter trying to get revenge. He may not be the most skilled, the most patient or the most silky in the ring but he's one of the most relentless and stubborn fighters in the sport right now.
Whilst Salido has been fighting in an around the world level for quite some time this will be the foray in to that class for his challenger Miguel Angel Garcia, a product of his brother's (Robert Garcia) boxing gym in Oxnard California. The same gym that has seen the rise of the all action Brandon Rios.
Unlike many of his gym mates Garcia isn't an all out brawler but instead a patient and calculated counter puncher with real venom on his shots. He combines a cute boxing brain with excellent timing and fantastic shot selection which sees him landing at an alarming percent of his power shots. It's these clean counter shots and a solid defense that has seen him rising in the world rankings in recent years and scoring notable wins over the likes of Cornelius Lock, Olivier Lontchi, Matt Remillard, Bernabe Concepcion and the very tough Jonathan Victor Barros.
Despite having been a professional since 2006 Garcia is now just 25 and coming into his physical peak. He might be young but with 30 fights, 138 professional rounds and countless tough sparring sessions he's also very experienced and has seen pretty much everything before in the gym where he has continually been with top tier fighters (including not just Rios but also Kelly Pavlik and Marcos Maidana). This has helped him keep his head level in his biggest fights to date and may well help him against Salido.
Going into this bout Garcia has got numerous problems. Whilst he may be the younger, fresher guy and he may have a superior reach he also has a low work rate, he's never been in a live fight with a guy like Salido (who like Brandon Rios, doesn't know the meaning of the word quit) and he's never been the 12 round distance (having only twice gone 9 or more rounds). I dare say that although Garcia has seen everything this could be the difference between seeing it in a safe gym environment and a true ring war, and if Salido is still the same fighter he was when he stopped Lopez I dare say he eventually grinds down a slightly panicked Garcia in the later rounds. Sure Garcia doesn't give himself away like Lopez but his lack of 12 round experience does leave him looking very vulnerable here.
Prediction-Salido TKO11
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