By Norm Frauennheim-
It’s not exactly David-versus-Goliath, but it might feel like it to Mikey Garcia when confronted by Goliath-like odds stacked against him in a role he asked for months before next week’s risky fight against Errol Spence Jr, the welterweight division’s heir apparent ever since he stunned Kell Brook nearly two years ago.
Garcia opened as a 4-to-1 underdog. Depending on the bookmaker, the line has moved to 5-1. Those are good odds if you’re shopping for a deal at the race track. But don’t confuse boxing with the ponies. Odds suggest Garcia will have to do something very special to upset Spence.
That’s what makes the bout in a ring somewhere near the 50-yard line on the Dallas Cowboys homefield at AT&T Stadium so intriguing. Garcia is special. He has a unique blend of poise, skill and smarts. What’s missing is the size many believe he’ll need to counter, or perhaps withstand Spence’s singular power, which was frighteningly evident in his 11th-round stoppage of the bigger Brook in the UK on May 27, 2017.
The seed of Spence’s KO of the gutsy Brook might have been planted nine months earlier (Sept 10, 1916) in middleweight Gennady Golovkin’s stoppage of Brook within five rounds. GGG left Brook with an injured right eye. Spence’s middleweight-like power compounded the injury, leaving Brook with a fractured eye socket.
Call it a warning, perhaps ominous for Garcia, a former featherweight champion and still reigning lightweight champion who will be fighting at 147 pounds for only the second time in his quest for pound-for-pound supremacy. Only in harm’s way, however, can Garcia (39-0, 30 KOs) really stake his claim on legacy. Guess here: He has a better chance than the odds or an old adage might suggest. That adage, of course, is just bit of common sense. To wit: In a bout between two good fighters, always bet on the bigger guy. There’s no way to know how much bigger Spence will be at opening bell.
But it’s safe to assume he’ll be somewhere near middleweight (160). Robert Garcia, Mikey’s trainer, says his brother walks around at 155 pounds. Hard to say whether or not he can get back to that weight after the formal weigh-in on the Friday before the pay-per-view fight (FOX Sports) Saturday (March 16).
But it’s safe to say he’ll have to be at least 150 pounds. A difference of 10-to-15 pounds at opening bell only increases Spence’s chance at some sort of stoppage, perhaps in the later rounds when inevitable fatigue leads to the predictable. Hands drop, a fight-ending punch lands on an exposed chin.
The intrigue rests in Garcia’s ability to throw different punches from angles set up by footwork the unbeaten Spence has never seen. I’m not sure how much the unbeaten Spence has been forced to adjust over a 24-fight career, including 21 KOs. His power rules. It’s the bottom line, the decision-maker. But that power might be negated by some of Garcia’s evident tactical skill. Spence delivers his power off his front foot.
Can he fight backing up? He might have to. Can Garcia get up from a big shot? He might have to.
Just a couple of questions preceding a bout with enough of them to think it might be the Fight of the Year
Attachments area
