Mark Whicker: Unbeaten Mikey García eyes life beyond the 12th round

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/mikey-383130-robert-garcia.html

By Mark Whicker, The Orange County Register

RIVERSIDE – A lot of boxers wind up in a police car. The difference with Mikey García is that he’ll sit in the front.

“It’s a lot like boxing in some ways,” Garcia said Thursday. “You’ve got to be smart, street-smart. You’ve got to be able to read your suspects. It makes you think a lot. I like that”.

Garcia, 25, has already gotten through the police academy. His application to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department is safely filed away.

He is one of the few fighters in the world who is pursuing his first career while actively planning for his second.

He is also one of the few who is 30-0 with 26 knockouts.

Garcia looks for a promotion Jan. 19, when Garcia goes to Madison Square Garden and tries to handcuff Orlando Salido, 32, the WBO featherweight champion, on HBO.

“Salido has nothing to lose,” said Robert Garcia, Mikey’s older brother. “We have a lot to lose. It’s a big step.

“But I think the commentators on TV that night are going to look at this fight and say, ‘Tonight, a new star was born”.

But the real game lies when Mikey gets to the end of his road, hoping to have beaten the dealer, with brains and money intact.

He was surrounded by boxing as he grew up in Oxnard. Robert is a former super-featherweight champion who trains Brandon Rios and Nonito Donaire as well as Mikey.

Father Eduardo was the longtime trainer of Fernando Vargas before he retired to Moreno Valley — and was un-retired by Mikey, who moved down here to draw his knowledge.

Uncle Daniel is Victor Ortiz’s trainer.

Yet Mikey was 14 before he entered a ring. And he didn’t enter from the dressing room.

“We were watching a card that our nephew, Xavier, was on, in Canoga Park,” Robert said. “Mikey was with us, and one of the guys didn’t have an opponent. Mike said he’d go in there with him and we said, come on, Mike, you don’t even train.

“They were judging the fight and gave it to the other kid, but we thought, he didn’t do too bad. Let’s go back to the gym”.

That was Robert’s version. Why did Mikey take such a huge step?

“My brother signed me up,” he said.

Mikey wound up meeting the same guy later in amateurs and winning. He took up the game, having watched the fighters around him, having “messed around fighting with my cousins”.

Suddenly he realized he was blessed. Garcia is a meticulous technical fighter who has stopped all but four of his victims. In November, he got rid of Jonathan Barros, a former WBA champ, with one heat-seeking left hook.

“We all knew he would be successful in whatever he did, because he’s smart,” Robert said. “My oldest son (Robert Jr.) is 17. Mikey’s closer to his age than he is to mine, and they’re close.

“Robert Jr. asked him how he’d feel when they raise his arm and call him the new champion of the world. Mike said he didn’t know, but he didn’t think he’d be that emotional.

“Boxing was never his main goal. He’s doing his job. He’s just basically graduating. If he does lose a few and it doesn’t work out, I think he’ll just say, hey, I gave it my best shot. No regrets”.

Mikey said the sport began entrancing him during an amateur career that included a Golden Gloves and National Police Athletic League titles.

“What I enjoy the most is the technical part,” he said. “Countering, studying, observing when guys get hurt, being able to read my opponents. I’m not in it to splurge on jewelry or toys of whatever. I’m getting ready for future retirement — starting now. You need to make sure you’re putting something away early”.

In the background is Eduardo, with his gray mustache and swept-back hair. Mikey trains here, in the Two Feathers Gym, to be close to Eduardo. It means Robert is driving back and forth from Oxnard every day, but it works.

“Mikey needs my dad,” Robert said. “My dad is the one that tells him he has to be up in the morning. He knows how to tell Mikey what he wants”.

“When we got Mikey we were experienced trainers,” Eduardo said, through an interpreter. “He wants to learn, but we also know how to teach him better. With Salido, the key is to keep his distance. You trade punches with Salido, it’s a 50-50 fight. As long as we keep our distance, we’ll dictate the pace of the fight”.

Protect first, serve later.

The Salido-Garcia WBO featherweight championship headlines a world title tripleheader which will also feature WBA/IBO middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin defending his crown against Gabriel Rosado and WBO junior lightweight titlist Rocky Martinez battling No. 1 contender Juan Carlos Burgos. Al three fights will be televised live on HBO Boxing After Dark®, from The Theater in Madison Square Garden, Saturday, January 19, beginning at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT.

Promoted by Top Rank® and K2 Promotions, in association with Tecate and Madison Square Garden, remaining tickets, priced at $200, $100, $50 and $25, are currently available for purchase at the Madison Square Garden Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster charge by phone GRATIS 866-858-0008) and online at www.ticketmaster.com or www.thegarden.com