Fighter Profile, Bio & History for Boxer Mikey Garcia
Mikey Garcia, or Miguel Angel Garcia, is the current USBA Featherweight Champion of the world, and at the young age of 23, he will continue to make his mark on the boxing world for years to come. Mikey comes from a great boxing family. His one older brother was the former IBF Super Featherweight Champion, his other older brother is the current trainer of Victor Ortiz, and his father, who was an amateur boxer himself, trained Fernando Vargas. Clearly, boxing is in Garcia’s blood.
Amateur Career
At the young age of 14, Garcia started his amateur career. From there, he went on to achieve impressive results, winning the gold medal at the 2004 National Junior Golden Gloves Championships and the 2005 National Police League Championships. From a young age, it was clear that Garcia would be a force to be reckoned with in the featherweight division. He turned pro after 56 fights on the amateur circuit.
Style
Garcia is a powerful, right-handed fighter, yet is also patient and knows how to pick his spots. He also has a tendency to switch to southpaw during some of his fights if the style of his opponent calls for it. He is a powerful counterpuncher who tries to box smart, avoid slugfests, and go in for the kill when he realizes his opponent is hurt. This ability to adapt to his opponents and pick his punches has led him to an undefeated record of 24-0 with an impressive 20 knockouts.
Big Fights
After making his professional debut in 2006 at the age of 19 under Bob Arum’s Top Rank Promotions, Garcia has been tearing through the Featherweight division, on a mission to be the best fighter in the deep, talent-rich waters of 126 lbs. All of his 24 wins have been decisively in favor of Garcia, and he has not even had an opponent force him to a split decision. Perhaps the biggest win of these fights was his April 2010 victory over Tomas Villa in which he won (in dominant fashion) the USBA belt. Since then, he has proven his ability to defend his title, scoring decisive victories in 2010 over Pedro Navarette, Cornelius Lock and Olivier Lontchi.
Personal
Garcia is perhaps one of the more educated boxers out there today, recently earning his Associates Degree from Oxnard County Community College as well as graduating from the Ventura County Police Academy, becoming a certified Police Officer. His goal is to have a long career in boxing and go into law enforcement as soon as his boxing career ends. From the looks of it, Garcia will have a very long and successful career in the ring.
What’s Next?
This March, Garcia faces his toughest test yet when he takes on the undefeated Matt Remillard for both the NABF and the WBO NABO Featherweight title. This will be Garcia’s first fight against a tested, proven and undefeated fighter. If he wins this battle against Remillard, Garcia will prove to an even further extent that he is the real deal and will quickly ascend himself to the top of the division, earning bigger and bigger fights. There are plenty of opportunities awaiting him, with names like Juan Manuel Lopez and Yuriorkis Gamboa lurking in his weight class.
