Fresh off of his impressive victory this past Saturday against former WBA Featherweight Champion, Jonathan Victor Barros, top featherweight contender, Mikey Garcia sat down with us here on Tha Boxing Voice to talk about his performance and discuss what he has in store for the future. “I’m happy. We did what we had to do. We took care of everything. We had a good fight and I came away with a good victory. I knocked him out and I’m very happy for that,” stated Garcia.
In scoring the eighth round TKO and being the only person to ever stop Barros, Garcia was able to accomplish something that even the highly regarded former featherweight champions Yuriorkis Gamboa and Celestino Caballero couldn’t do. “I got him with a good left hook. I guess I do carry power in both hands. He was able to go twelve rounds with the other champions, but I was able to connect on him. Maybe I hit a little harder. Maybe he just got hit right where it really hurt him, and I was able to stop him, explained Garcia.”
Although he is mostly known for his technical boxing skills and it’s pretty safe to say that his style will never be confused with his stablemate and Mexican counterpart Brandon Rios,’ Garcia does have underrated power. “I may not be so flashy, but I still get the job done and when I do get it done it’s exciting. I finish the fights exciting.”
Garcia’s originally scheduled opponent Orlando Salido was watching from ringside, and it was no secret that he was there to scout him as a future opponent. Both men have expressed interest in facing each other in the future, but Garcia still had to deal with the task at hand. “We were focused on Barros first before thinking about Salido, but we also knew that Barros is not an easy opponent. He knows what he’s doing. He’s experienced. We had to be careful. We also had respect for Barros and his abilities, and that’s why we took our time and fought the way we fought,” he explained.
When asked when he plans on returning to the ring Garcia went on to say, “Right now I’m going to take maybe a week off and then get back in the gym, but they (Top Rank) told me that there is a very slight chance that we will land a January 19 or February 2 date. Either January 19 or February 2 we will be looking for Orlando Salido.”
If Salido does end up being the next opponent for Garcia, it looks to be a tough fight for both men. “I’m definitely going to have to earn his respect. He’s a tough guy to beat, but I’m going to do everything I can to beat him and just do everything I can to win. I think I’m a better fighter overall and that’s what’s going to carry me and allow me to win,” Garcia claimed.
This wouldn’t be the first time that Salido faces someone who is presumingly more skilled than him. A lot of people thought that Juan Manuel Lopez was the more technically gifted fighter when he faced Salido, but we all saw what happened there. Could the same thing happen if and when Garcia faces him? Can will beat skill once again? It should be interesting finding out.
Check out the full interview here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thaboxingvoiceradioshow/2012/11/12/mikey-garcia-marcus-browne-on-thaboxingvoice-radio
