By Dan Ambrose: Promoter Eddie Hearn questions whether or not Mikey Garcia will ever struggle once more after his stunning defeat by the hands of Sandor Martin final month of their foremost occasion conflict on DAZN on October sixteenth on the Chukchansi Park in Fresno, California.
This was purported to be a press release struggle for the 33-year-old ring-rusty Mikey to arrange him for a mega-clash towards Regis Prograis, however as an alternative, he was schooled by Sandor for ten rounds.
Sandor is a former EBU gentle welterweight champion, and he’s not thought-about an elite-level fighter at 140.
On paper, he shouldn’t have been in a position to beat a fighter with Mikey’s background, however the truth that he did means that it may very well be over with for the Oxnard, California native.
The judges gave Martin a ten spherical majority resolution, however most boxing followers had a transparent victory for the Spaniard.
It’s arduous to guess what the decide was considering that scored the struggle 95-95 even, contemplating that Mikey seemed like he solely gained two rounds at finest, and that might be a state of affairs the place you have been being beneficiant. The opposite two judges scored it for Sandor 97-93 and 97-93.
Dan Ambrose had it 99-91 for Sandor. Mikey seemed fats, sluggish, outdated, and shot to items. All of the years of Mikey sitting round, consuming, and never preventing appears to have eroded his boxing expertise.
Furthermore, Mikey doesn’t belong preventing at 140 or 147, as he’s too small to compete towards the highest guys in that weight class, who youthful, sooner, and simply as highly effective as him, if no more.
Hearn says he didn’t see the starvation from the previous four-division world champion Mikey (40-2, 30 KOs) that he wanted to defeat the 28-year-old Spaniard Martin (39-2, 13 KOs).
“I don’t know,” mentioned Eddie Hearn to ESNEWS when requested what’s subsequent for Mikey Garcia following his upset loss final October. “I’ve received to offer credit score to Sandor Martin as a result of I believed it was a nasty efficiency from Mikey.
“You’ve received to take a look at your self and be sufficiently big to say, ‘That’s not efficiency,’” continued Hearn in regards to the effort from Mikey Garcia towards the little-known 28-year-old Sandor.
What makes it much more unlikely that we would not see Mikey Garcia again within the ring once more is the truth that he’ll in all probability have to take a pay lower from the cash that he made towards Sandor.
If Mikey expects to get thousands and thousands preventing some unknown fighter in his subsequent contest on DAZN, he may very well be sadly upset. Even when Mikey fights a prime 140-pounder, it’s arduous to justify that he deserves an enormous purse.
Subsequent cash, Mikey will likely be turning 34 on December fifteenth, and that’s not younger for a 140-pounder, particularly one which has missed a whole lot of motion since 2016. The inactivity, weight achieve, and the truth that Mikey is preventing in divisions he’s too tiny for, it doesn’t bode nicely for his future.
“It worries me that there was no urgency in a struggle that, even if you wish to be actually favorable to Mikey, it was like shut,” mentioned Hearn.
“I’m trying on the struggle, and it will get to the eighth spherical, and I believe, ‘He’s [Mikey] behind, he’s received to do one thing.’ Nevertheless it wasn’t a man that was preventing for his profession, it wasn’t a man that appeared bothered by a possible loss, and which means how a lot starvation do you’ve gotten left? Are you aware what I imply?
“It’s all very nicely saying, ‘It’s okay, it’s just a bit loss. I’ll come again.’ He [Mikey] misplaced to Sandor Martin, and he wished to return in and make a press release and have a mega-fight. You understand him higher than me. Do you suppose he’ll struggle once more?” asks Hearn to Ellie Setback.
“He’s so much higher than that, however let’s not take something away from Sandor Martin. It was efficiency, very intelligent, difficult, however that wasn’t the Mikey Garcia that I’ve watched previously,” mentioned a worried-sounding Hearn.
Mikey in all probability will struggle once more, nevertheless it’s unlikely he will likely be profitable if he’s going to be competing at 140. At this level, it’s arduous to foretell him getting again all the way down to 126, 130 or 135, weight courses that he would have an honest likelihood of doing nicely.
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