Mikey Garcia, Robert Easter Jr. Headline July 28’s Showtime Card
The man who many (including Lomachenko himself) believe could
bring down pound-for-pound king Vasily
Lomachenko, Mikey Garcia (38-0, 30 KO’s) will first seek to unify
the WBC and IBF lightweight (135-pound) belts by putting his WBC
championship on the line against IBF champion Robert Easter
Jr. (21-0, 14 KO’s), Saturday July 28 at 10 p.m. ET on Showtime
live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Garcia will be looking to pick up a title in his fourth weight class, though with a win this would be the first time he would become a unified champion. He has beaten many notable fighters including Adrien Broner, Juan Manuel Lopez and Orlando Salido, the only man to have ever beaten Lomachenko. Garcia is ESPN's second ranked lightweight behind only Lomachenko. In his last fight in March, he won a decision against Sergey Lipinets, although his last two fights were at 140 pounds. This fight will be a homecoming for the native Californian, his first fight in his home state in seven years.
Robert Easter Jr. is the fourth ranked lightweight according to ESPN and has a few advantages over Garcia. At 27 he is three years younger, and 5-feet-11 is very tall for a lightweight (Garcia is only 5-foot-6). Despite his success, he will be making a trainer switch for this fight, employing longtime Devon Alexander and Cory Spinks trainer Kevin Cunningham. He has spoken of being too comfortable with his old trainer, and how he felt he needed a change after not looking his best in his last few fights.
Garcia must be careful not to get caught looking past his undefeated opponent, having already talked about facing Lomachenko after, should he get by Easter. But, Easter has claimed that Cunningham’s training camp in Florida will put him on another level, and a young, hungry and undefeated prospect who thinks he can be even better is always a scary prospect.
Garcia will be looking to pick up a title in his fourth weight class, though with a win this would be the first time he would become a unified champion. He has beaten many notable fighters including Adrien Broner, Juan Manuel Lopez and Orlando Salido, the only man to have ever beaten Lomachenko. Garcia is ESPN's second ranked lightweight behind only Lomachenko. In his last fight in March, he won a decision against Sergey Lipinets, although his last two fights were at 140 pounds. This fight will be a homecoming for the native Californian, his first fight in his home state in seven years.
Robert Easter Jr. is the fourth ranked lightweight according to ESPN and has a few advantages over Garcia. At 27 he is three years younger, and 5-feet-11 is very tall for a lightweight (Garcia is only 5-foot-6). Despite his success, he will be making a trainer switch for this fight, employing longtime Devon Alexander and Cory Spinks trainer Kevin Cunningham. He has spoken of being too comfortable with his old trainer, and how he felt he needed a change after not looking his best in his last few fights.
Garcia must be careful not to get caught looking past his undefeated opponent, having already talked about facing Lomachenko after, should he get by Easter. But, Easter has claimed that Cunningham’s training camp in Florida will put him on another level, and a young, hungry and undefeated prospect who thinks he can be even better is always a scary prospect.
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