The boxing boom has continued into 2018 and we’re being treated to outstanding competitive bouts and in the process we’re also seeing titles becoming unified. This past weekend WBC lightweight title holder Mikey Garcia 39-0 (30) met IBF titlist Robert Easter 21-1 (14) at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Garcia is among the top pound for pound fighters in boxing and there’s a strong case for his inclusion among the top five. He’s technically as close to being faultless as any active fighter in the world.

Easter is 5’11” and his 76-inch reach is two inches longer than Sugar Ray Leonard’s. He started his career as a knockout artist but hadn’t won inside the distance in any of his four title bouts prior to meeting Garcia. Conversely, Garcia has won world titles at 126, 130, 135 and 140 and is fighting as good as he ever has.

The strategy for Easter to overcome the nearly 10-1 odds against him was obvious – use his reach, keep Mikey outside and avoid punching with him or getting caught with his back to the ropes. And for the first two rounds he was beautiful. Easter worked his jab overtime and used it mostly to occupy Garcia and keep him at long range. Then in the third round Garcia started to close the distance and dropped Easter with a big left hook, a game changing shot.

After five rounds, due to Easter’s fast start, the fight was close. But from the sixth round on (no later than the seventh), Garcia won every round. He was patient, letting Easter have the first minute of each round and then picking it up as he pressed forward, using head and shoulder feints and timing Easter’s jabs and desperate right hands to beat him to the punch and work inside where he was most effective. Once inside Garcia slammed Easter with some tight hooks and then up the middle with right uppercuts as Easter was trying to bend to either side to get away from Garcia’s inside assault. Easter proved to be a little better than most thought and perhaps Garcia showed him too much respect and was content winning by what became a lopsided unanimous decision (116-111, 117-110, and 118-109). I saw it 118-110 Garcia.

It was a great night of boxing and a solid showing by Garcia who is now the unified (WBC/IBF) lightweight champ. Then he and Showtime’s Jim Gray ruined the night by totally ignoring the only fighter who is a legitimate threat to Garcia and that’s WBA titlist Vasyl Lomachenko. Instead Mikey stressed that he wants to challenge himself and move up to welterweight and take on IBF title holder Errol Spence, the strongest and biggest puncher in the division. Spence vs. Mikey Garcia isn’t on anyone’s radar and it’s doubtful many fans would pay much to see it because the outcome is as close to a foregone conclusion as there is in boxing today. If Garcia couldn’t finish a much less physically strong guy in Easter, imagine him being a little slowed by the extra weight fighting at 147 and trying to dent Spence. It’s not going to happen.

The fight the boxing world is clamoring for is Mikey Garcia vs. Vasyl Lomachenko, two fighters who started at 126 and now are clearly the alpha dogs at 135. But Garcia acts as if Lomachenko doesn’t exist and seldom if ever mentions him. It appears Garcia thinks by challenging Spence nobody sees that he may be trying to duck Lomachenko. And as hard as it is to believe, I’ve seen where some even buy it when the reality is that from the standpoint of his career legacy, Lomachenko poses the greater risk.

It’s amazing how some boxing observers just don’t see through the facade painted by their favorite fighter. Take for instance Sugar Ray Leonard. When Leonard announced he was coming out of retirement to fight undisputed middleweight champ Marvin Hagler, who was nearing the end of his reign and hadn’t lost in 11 years, most were stunned that he wasn’t fighting a tune-up first. After all, he hadn’t fought in three years and only once in the previous five years.

This isn’t something that came as a surprise to me, simply because it was easy to decipher what was going through Leonard’s mind. Fighting a tune-up before tangling with Hagler put him at risk of looking bad and killing the interest in the fight. But there was much more to it than that. Ray knew that beating Hagler without a prior shake-the-rust-off bout would make the feat that much more monumental if he won, and at the same time gave him a parachute if he lost, especially if it was in a humiliating fashion. This way, had he lost, he could’ve proclaimed he should’ve listened to those who advised him to have at least one warm-up before going at Hagler.

As we know, that Herculean risk by Leonard solidified him as an all-time great fighter. And today when the fight is discussed, it is usually mentioned how he beat Hagler despite having fought only once in the previous five years. The risk was well worth the reward as he never needed the cushion for the soft landing had he lost. But make no mistake…had the split decision in his favor been for Hagler, Leonard would still be selling how he would’ve pulled it out had he shaken off the accumulated rust before taking the fight.

In a way we are watching the same thing all over again with Mikey Garcia. The reality is that he’s not supposed to beat Spence, but losing wouldn’t hurt his career perception as he will be widely applauded for accepting the challenge. And if by chance he upsets Spence, he’d be considered an all-time great and could avoid Lomachenko completely. And if the public still wanted him to face Vasyl he could do it at 147 where Mikey would hold a huge advantage.

Versus Lomachenko, Mikey would have no parachute to break the fall if he lost because going in the fight would be a tossup on paper. Garcia and Lomachenko are the same age and they’re the same size with contrasting styles and both are considered top five pound for pound fighters by keen observers. Yes, there’s plenty of risk in facing Lomachenko because there simply is no bailout excuse for a bad showing. Garcia is one of the most intelligent fighters in boxing and he no doubt knows Lomachenko’s boxing style and quickness could give him an ulcer tactically.

This space is never used to rip fighters or challenge their courage; others can do that. Regular readers of this column know how highly I rate Mikey Garcia. In fact, Lomachenko has had tougher sailing in this space. However, we must call them as we see them and it’s starting to look as if Mikey doesn’t want to face Lomachenko because the risk of losing is too great and by challenging a monster like Spence he’ll get a pass for skipping Lomachenko. Wrong. Fight and beat Lomachenko first and then go after Spence or Terence Crawford if you’re serious about winning the welterweight title.

The boxing world wants to see Garcia-Lomachenko in a big way. The different promoters and networks who control the fighters can come together to make the fight if the public demands it. We saw them do it with Lewis-Tyson and Mayweather-Pacquiao, and Garcia vs. Lomachenko is more compelling than either of those fights was going in.

In closing, let it be noted that Vasyl Lomachenko is a bigger career risk for Mikey Garcia than Errol Spence and it’s not even close. Yes, Spence could beat up Garcia more than Lomachenko could, even if Mikey stood in front of Vasyl with his hands down and said hit me with your best shot. Garcia could recover physically and emotionally from a loss to Spence and for the rest of his career he’d be pat on the back for accepting the challenge. Not so with Lomachenko, because he is to Garcia what Hearns was to Leonard, Marquez to Pacquiao and Holyfield to Tyson – and that is the fighter against whom their career is measured.

If Mikey wants to be bold and prove how he’s a fighter for all time, he’d holler from the mountaintop for Lomachenko, stating how he wants to be remembered for beating him when Vasyl was at his best. But no, he seeks a fight that he’ll be praised for just showing up. Garcia challenging Spence would be like Leonard challenging Hagler before fighting Hearns for the undisputed welterweight title….it makes no sense!

When Garcia says Spence is riskier than Lomachenko, he couldn’t be more wrong and it should be obvious. The career legacies of Garcia and Lomachenko are tied to each other.

Frank Lotierzo can be reached at GlovedFist@Gmail.com

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