Back on March 26th in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in a match-up of two young, undefeated featherweights, Miguel ?Mikey? Garcia made his HBO debut by stopping Matt Remillard in ten rounds. It was classic Garcia, steady, patient, precise and probing. And after a deliberate start, he eventually wore down Remillard to a point where he floored him twice in the ninth frame and then stopped him in the tenth.
Garcia, who co-headlines once again on HBO against Rafael Guzman this Saturday night at the Staples Center, started slow but finished with a flourish.
“I think it went well; the first couple of rounds I tried to see what Remillard was bringing to the table. See what kind of things he was doing but still making sure I wasn?t giving rounds away without doing anything,” Garcia told Maxboxing. “I made sure I tried to stay active, tried to stay busy but kinda feeling him out as the fight progressed. I felt like I was winning the fight but I wanted to put maybe a little more pressure on the guy. By the seventh, eighth round, I started doing that. I dropped him in the ninth and tenth and that was it, so I think it was a pretty good performance.”
He admits his natural ring temperament is to be patient. “That?s just the way I fight; that?s the way I do it,” Garcia says. “I like to take my time and just kind of feel my opponents out, see what they have and where they are most vulnerable and see what I can do from that. I?m not going to go out and rush out there, try to just take them out quickly. I?m going to try to see how I can take them apart little by little, in that kind of way.”
His brother, Robert, who co-trains him with their father, Eduardo, says, “I think it was a smart fight; that?s just Mikey. He?s just very cautious all the time. There?s a few times in that fight where my dad and myself, we were asking ourselves, ?Why won?t Mikey step it up and finish as soon as he wants?? We?re there and we?re hoping that he does that but like he told us after the fight, ?Took me ten rounds but I still got the job done. I didn?t get hit; I picked my punches? and he does everything that he needed to do. So I was happy with the performance. Once you come back home and see the fight and look at the things that you?re supposed to, well, I saw the perfect fight. He fought smart; he did what he had to do. He hardly got hit and landed when he wanted to.
“So watching the fight there in the corner, being live, we?re pushing for more and more. But then, watching it with patience at home, it was a big difference. I saw everything that a great fighter has to do and he did it.”
During that broadcast, the HBO crew, who wondered why Garcia didn?t push down on the gas pedal sooner, made a comment that essentially Garcia didn?t choose boxing but, by way of his lineage, essentially had no choice but to box. This game chose him.
Robert, who was a junior lightweight champion back during his days as a fighter, doesn?t disagree with that notion.
“I truly believe that. I told my dad, ?I think that one day, whenever Mikey becomes world champion and if one day he decides, ?Know what? I do want to do it,? even if he?s still in his prime, if he just decides he doesn?t want to do it, he?ll just say that and that?ll be it,” says the older sibling. “I have that feeling about Mikey. I don?t see the love for the sport that all the fighters have. I think Mikey does it because he?s really good at it and he?s not one of those fighters that dreams of big houses and nice cars. He?s one of those persons that?s comfortable living in a nice house with his family and kids. I know that as long as Mikey has something that secures his bills, that would be enough for him.”
There?s no doubt that Garcia is proficient in boxing; the question is, without the requisite passion, can he ever truly become a great fighter?
“I think he?s going to go as far as he wants and once he sees- and this is his second fight on HBO- I think he?s going to start liking it, he starts getting attention and people start talking to him, about him,” said Robert. “Before, people in boxing knew who Mikey is but not really. Fans don?t really know him yet but little by little, they will and that?ll get to him. He?ll start wanting to do it more and more but right now, the way I see it, I told my dad and my dad agreed; my dad actually said, ?You?re right. We gotta talk to him and we gotta bring that fire into him.?”
When told of his brother?s comments, the younger brother responds, “It?s not that I don?t love the sport or I don?t have the passion for it. It?s just that, I have a different style of fighting. If I were to get in a fight and it happens to be a style where I have to brawl, I have to be aggressive from the beginning. That might be a fight that may not be so well for me but it might be pleasing to the fans. If that?s what I have to do to win, then that?s what I would do.”
His brother also trains WBA lightweight beltholder Brandon ?Bam Bam? Rios, who just oozes desire and heart every single time he fights. The two are like fire and ice in the ring. They could not be more contrasting in the way they approach fights but their commitment to the sport is no different, according to Mikey.
He points out, “Brandon always seems to have that passion because that?s the way he fights every fight. He fights every fight like that because that?s the style that best suits him. That?s what he can do best. I can probably outbox on the outside, better than if I stay on the inside. So it?s just the way I like to fight but going back to how the sport kinda picked me or whatever, we?ve always been around boxing. We?ve been around it, my brothers, my dad and Fernando Vargas, everybody, but it wasn?t something that I wanted to do since I was a kid, like other kids at five, eight years old. They?re already saying they?re going to be world champions or they?re going to be boxers.
“I wasn?t really thinking of that. I just kinda got into it at 14, just to get a feel for it, having some fun. It kinda grew onto me more and knowing that we have a good team, we?re capable of doing great things. That kinda grew more and it just made me want to do it more than before.”
Right now, Garcia holds the NABF and NABO titles, he?s at the stage where he?s good enough to be on a cable premium show but perhaps not ready to tangle with the division?s elite.
“He?s right in between,” said his manager, Cameron Dunkin. “There?s guys we definitely want to fight him against for the world title and we were willing to do that. It just didn?t work out because of the time frame and everything and getting a chance to fight on HBO. But we?re looking at a title for him right now and then I think the big fights, the [Yuriorkis] Gamboa-types and ?JuanMa? [Lopez] fights and those type of fights will be right around the corner after he gets a date.”
Dunkin, who?s guided dozens of world champions, believes Garcia has a high ceiling. He says, “Look, I think he could be a top ten pound-for-pound guy. He boxes; he can punch and he?s still a baby. He?s still growing and getting stronger. Again, he only had 50-something amateur fights, so he?s a guy who?s getting better and better and better and didn?t take a lot of punishment. He?s very healthy, so I see a huge upside for him. I can see him being one of the best fighters in the world one day.”
Bob Arum, whose company has developed Garcia from day one, says, “He?s a tremendous fighter and they have great genes in that family and we?ve always known that he was going to be one of the top fighters and they brought him along tremendously and right now he?s ready to face anybody.”
Regardless, with a record of 25-0 (with 21 KOs to his credit) and just 23 years of age, Garcia will be kept active. “We want to keep him busy and a good thing about Mikey and of course, Robert and Eduardo, they all understand what we understand, which is that he needs to fight and stay busy. And you?re not going to get paid big, big money every time out of the gate. You?re going to have to fight for a cheaper cost but stay busy and learn and he?s willing to do that,” stated Dunkin.
Top Rank will not just sit and wait for premium cable dates for Garcia.
“Building a fighter,” explained Arum, “other than the way we do it, doesn?t work. We schedule him for fights and then we look if HBO is interested or if Showtime?s interested and if not, they go on our regular shows or on our pay-per-view shows.”
Garcia understands that now he is getting to that big stage. The days of him performing on ?Top Rank Live? or ?Latin Fury? are very likely behind him now.
“The events are getting bigger and to be fighting on big undercards like the one we?re fighting on, it?s big,? Garcia said. ?For any fighter, that?s where they want to be. Hopefully, later, I get to headline these cards and that would be awesome but for right now, we?re focused on the fight. It?s a big event and I?m not going to let that take me off my fight game plan and just take care of business.”
LOST PERRO
While guesting on the ?Leave it in the Ring? show, co-hosted by Gabe Montoya and Dave Duenez, TV packager Gary Shaw raised some eyebrows last week when he alleged that it was Arum who fingered Alfredo ?Perro? Angulo to the immigration authorities.
Arum?s reaction?
“It is preposterous. I don?t even know who to call in immigration. I mean, Gary shouldn?t be saying things like that. That?s just so far from the truth. It?s nuts. The immigration service, as far as I know, discovered this on their own. We didn?t turn him in,” he insisted, vigorously. “That?s crazy. Some of these guys, because we?re successful and they?re less so, anything that happens bad, it?s ?Blame Arum and Top Rank.? That?s nuts.”
One boxing insider pointed out to me that if Shaw knew about Angulo?s status as an illegal alien, that might be more problematic, given that he not only employed him but had him stay over at his house prior to his bout against Harry Joe Yorgey in November of 2009.
MAXBOXING RADIO
In case you haven?t heard, my radio show/podcast is back. ?Maxboxing Radio? with co-host Corey Erdman is making its official debut this week. It can be heard live on The Score on SIRIUS 158, Thursday nights at 9 PM, ET. For non-subscribers it?s available at http://radio.thescore.com.
As promised, the show is back and from here on out, it will be a weekly edition and will start off at around 44 minutes in length (hopefully longer down the line as we procure sponsors and the like).
But I?d like to thank everyone for their interest and continued patience.
ATTENDANCE
When Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez faced Matthew Hatton in early March, he drew over 13,000 to the Honda Center in Anaheim. I?m wondering if Julio Cesar Chavez- who faces Sebastian Zbik for the WBC middleweight title this weekend- will draw anything near that amount at the Staples Center.
My gut feeling (and some of this is based on what I?ve been told) is that he won?t. My guess is that he?ll do between 7,000-8,000 paying customers. I get the sense that the hardcore Mexican fans, for the most part, have gotten on the ?Canelo? bandwagon and have a bit of skepticism over Junior?s development and commitment to the sport. They just seem to trust Alvarez more and believe that he is a guy that will get the most out of his ability.
Perhaps Chavez can begin the process of re-earning their trust with a strong showing on Saturday night. But just being the heir of a legend isn?t enough.
FRIDAY FLURRIES
The weigh-in for Zbik-Chavez will take place on Friday afternoon at 1 PM at the Star Plaza outside the Staples Center. The public is invited…This week?s edition of ?Friday Night Fights? on ESPN2 comes from Tampa, Florida, with Cuban Yudel Jhonson facing Miguel Torres in a junior middleweight bout…Who needs to stay off Twitter more: Reggie Bush, Anthony Weiner or Andre Berto?…Showtime has announced that WBA super middleweight titlist Andre Ward will be part of their broadcast team when Glen Johnson and Carl Froch tangle on Saturday night in Atlantic City. The winner faces ?S.O.G.? in the finals of the ?Super Six? this fall…This week?s edition of ?Solo Boxeo? on Telefutura is pretty good one from the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino. Rising bantamweight Leo Santa Cruz takes on Jose ?Carita? Lopez and Luis Ramos faces Francisco Lorenzo…WBA lightweight champion Brandon ?Bam Bam? Rios will be signing autographs at the ??Woodland Hills War IV? card at the Warner Center Marriott on Friday night…Got a text from Vincent Parra, manager of Mercito Gesta, who says they will land at the Wild Card Boxing Club on Monday and serve as a sparring partner for Amir Khan, who faces Zab Judah on July 23rd in Las Vegas…I can be reached at [email protected] and I tweet at www.twitter.com/stevemaxboxing. We also have a Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/MaxBoxing.
