By Ian S Palmer
Former world champion Mikey Garcia of Ventura, California will be returning to the ring this Saturday, Oct. 16th when he meets Sandor Martin of Spain. The 12-round fight from Fresno, California can be seen live in most nations on DAZN. Garcia last fought in February, 2020 when he beat Jessie Vargas by a 12-round unanimous decision for the vacant WBC Diamond Welterweight Title. Martin last boxed in April with a 12-round unanimous decision over Kay Prospere to defend his European Super Lightweight Title.
The 33-year-old Garcia has been a World Featherweight, Super Featherweight and Super Lightweight Champion during his career. His lone loss came in March, 2019 when he dropped a wide unanimous decision to Errol Spence in a shot at the IBF, and vacant WBC Diamond Welterweight Titles. Garcia owned a perfect record until meeting Spence and is now 40-1 with 30 Kos. He has a 68-inch reach and stands 5-feet-6-inches tall so is quite small for the 147 lb division. However, it’s unclear if this is a junior welterweight or welterweight fight.
Garcia was inactive for most of 2014 and 2015 due to promotional issues and hasn’t fought since February, 2020 so he could have some ring rust to deal with. He possesses good power with a current knockout ratio of 73.2 per cent but six of his last eight bouts have gone the distance including his last five. He’s a quick, solid boxer with no apparent weaknesses and has fought 238 rounds since turning pro back in 2006 after a fine amateur career.
There isn’t really a weak side to Garcia’s game as his speed, power and boxing skills have simply been too much for all of his opponents other than Spence so far. He’s basically the total package and it’s too bad he missed so much time away from the sport. He has some impressive wins against Vargas, Robert Easter, Sergey Lipinets, Adrien Broner, Juan Carlos Burgos, Roman Martinez, Juan Manuel Lopez, Rafael Guzman, Orlando Salido, Jonathan Barros and Mauricio Pastrana.
Garcia may not be in his prime anymore and perhaps isn’t as well known to the average boxing fan as he should be. He’s simply been one of the best out there during his career pound for pound and could be still hoping to earn another shot at a welterweight title to capture four world titles in different weight divisions.
Martin isn’t very well known outside of Europe, where he’s the current Super Lightweight champion. He’s 28 years old with an impressive mark of 38-2 with 13 Kos. He boxed 254 rounds since making his pro debut in 2011 but has fought mainly as a junior welterweight. Martin is a southpaw from Barcelona and also has experience as a kickboxer. He stands just over 5-feet-7-inches tall with an unlisted reach so has a 1.5-inch height advantage over Garcia.
Martin doesn’t possess much power in his fists as his current knockout ratio is just 32.5 per cent. He won the Spanish Super Lightweight Title in 2014 with a technical decision over Ignacio Mendoza and first captured the European Belt in 2015 via a unanimous decision over Samuele Esposito. He then added the WBC Youth Silver Super Lightweight Title in 2015 when he stopped Gyorgy Mizsei in the fourth round.
The first loss suffered by Martin came at the hands of Alexandre Lepelley by an eight-round decision in 2013. He also lost to Anthony Yigit by12-round unanimous decision in 2017 when he lost the European Belt. He regained the vacant title two years later though when he beat Andrea Scarpa after the ninth round. This will be Martin’s first fight outside of Europe.
Prediction…
This is a huge step up in class for Martin as he’s faced domestic-level competition so far in his career. He shouldn’t be taken too lightly though but once Garcia fights through the ring rust he should be able to handle him without too much of a problem.
