The first two times we saw Miguel ?Mikey? Garcia this year, he was showcased under the bright lights of HBO. Back in March, he stopped Matt Remillard in a battle of undefeated featherweights, wearing down the ?Sharp Shooter? in ten. Then in June at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Garcia halted late replacement Rafael Guzman in four rounds. But as he faces Juan Carlos Martinez tonight at the Theater in Madison Square Garden, Garcia will essentially be ?dark? as HBO will only air clips of his bout during a broadcast featuring Nonito Donaire-Omar Narvaez and the replay of the controversial bout between Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson.
Usually, when a fighter appears a few times on HBO, it?s pretty much understood that – for better or worse- if he shines on this platform (as Garcia has), he becomes a regular player on this network. Going back to the untelevised portion of the show is thought of as a backward step.
For Garcia and his team, the big picture focus is the development of his career, which can only occur with consistent activity.
?I just wanted to fight. That?s the main thing that we were looking for. Stay active; stay in the ring,? he said earlier this week during his last days of training in Oxnard, California, before heading east. ?I understand how the business works. It?s part of the sport, so I got no problem with that. As long as I get the fight and we keep moving forward, I?m happy.?
Since HBO had an agreement to re-air last week?s pay-per-view main event, they basically couldn?t allot the time for Garcia?s fight to air on this broadcast. This also meant that Garcia would make significantly less than he had in his previous two bouts.
It was up to Garcia?s manager, Cameron Dunkin, to clarify the circumstances. ?It was hard because he had fought out here against Remillard in Atlantic City on HBO and then he turned around and got to fight back on HBO underneath [Julio Cesar] Chavez at Staples Center. I just explained to him that we got there for a moment. We had a shot where he would be shown on HBO and then it turned out that they were going to show clips of him. By the time I got done explaining to him, he was very, very happy- he was happy that they were actually showing clips of him and he wasn?t completely in the dark, so this will be the third time in a row- I know that his whole fight won?t be on HBO- but they?re going to show clips of him and they?re going to be speaking about his fight.
