Miguel Angel “Mikey” Garcia showed that he is the future of the featherweight division and perhaps beyond when he hammered champion Orlando Salido into submission, dropping him four times before the fight was finally stopped after the eighth round when an accidental head butt broke Garcia’s nose and he was unable to fight on.
Garcia (31-0, 26 KOs) won by technical decision and was well ahead on all three judges’ scorecards when the fight was stopped before a full house and HBO audience at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York.
With the victory in the main event, Garcia took the WBO featherweight belt from the Mexican Salido (39-12-2).
Garcia’s power was on display from the opening bell, as he mixed left hands, right uppercuts and right hooks in masterfully among consistently pinpoint jabs. Garcia, 25, who is trained by his older brother, Robert Garcia, USA TODAY Sports’ trainer of the year.
Salido went down twice in the first round, once in the third round and again in the fourth round.
One judge scored it 79-70 and the other two scored it 79-69, all for Garcia.
Garcia was disappointed that the fight had to be stopped, but said he couldn’t breathe. He was not angered by the head butt.
“It’s accidental, I will give him a rematch if he wants it,” Garcia said. “This is my first time fighting with a broken nose. It’s hard for me to breathe.
“If I could breathe, I would have fought the entire fight. We had a game plan and we were executing it perfectly.”
Golovkin wins:Two days ago, Gennady Golovkin was sick in bed.
Saturday night Golovkin made Gabriel Rosado sick, using his considerable power to turn Rosado’s face into a mass of blood, thanks to a deep gash over his left eye.
The middleweight title fight was finally and mercifully stopped at 2:48 of the seventh round when Rosado’s corner threw in the towel.
Golovkin (25-0, 22 KOs), known for his legendary power, retained his WBA and IBO middleweight belts. The former Olympian from Kazakhstan has now won his last 12 fights by stoppage. But he knew he was in a fight. His face was all marked up and bruised.
“I can be much better,” Golovkin said. “I feel my power. I wanted to show the public my technique and tactics.”
Said Rosado (21-6, 13 KOs): “This man is strong as hell, a great fighter. But I just couldn’t see.”
In the third title fight on the card, Juan Carlos Burgos and champion Roman Martinez fought to a controversial draw, and Martinez retained his WBO super featherweight title.
