Four-division world champion Mikey Garcia weighed in on his shock loss to Sandor Martin after the fight.
“I thought it was a good fight, you know, he fought a very good fight, he was boxing. I thought I did what was necessary, to close the gap, putting the pressure, looking for the fight. He was the one moving around, running around a lot. He was able to counter a few times but I was the one actively looking for the fight. I thought I was ahead on the cards. You know, it is what it is. There’s three judges and they decided he was the one winning the fight.
“I’m not bruised up. He didn’t put a beating on me, but it was a good, competitive fight. I thought I was winning the fight in a close matchup but, like I said, the judges saw it the other way around.
“I knew he was a very good boxer. I’ve seen some of these films, and I know he can box. That’s why I kept being the aggressor coming forward, But I couldn’t be reckless either because he was looking for those counters. I still thought I did enough to win the rounds being that I was the aggressor looking for the fight. He kept moving around using the ring. The judges this time thought that he was the one in control when I felt I was the one in control.
“I can definitely consider a rematch. I think two more rounds will probably be more beneficial. I thought I was coming on a little bit better in the later rounds, but there’s no excuses. That’s the way it is.”
He should’ve done a 12 rounder anyways. A 10 rounder at his level is embarrassing. After his layoff he hasn’t been very impressive. I felt whatever he had left was taken by Spence.
He could have fought a 20 round fight and lost almost every round! He looked terrible, he lost that desire to win or he would ha e been all over Martin.
Main events were ten rounds for years-extra two rounds added for made up titles.
They were also 15 rounds for years back when boxing was a real sport
15 rounders were title fights. Other fights were 12 rounders. In regards to this fight Mikey knew it was a 10 rounder when he signed for the fight. He should have done what he needed to do in the scheduled rounds for the fight.
From wiki:
Championships shortened
In professional boxing, until the 1980s, the “championship distance” generally referred to the title rounds that numbered between 13 and 15.[7][8] For decades, the last heavyweight title match scheduled for less than 15 rounds had been the September 22, 1927 10-rounder between Gene Tunney and Jack Dempsey; from then, the only bout that was not scheduled for 15 rounds had been a scheduled 20-rounder between Joe Louis and Abe Simon on March 21, 1941.[9] This changed though, following the death of lightweight Duk Koo Kim in 1982[2] after his fourteen-round fight with Ray Mancini. Almost immediately, the World Boxing Council (WBC) issued a statement saying that WBC world title bouts would be set for 12 rounds.[9]
The following year on March 27, 1983, the first ever heavyweight title fight scheduled for 12 rounds under that rule was held by the WBC between Larry Holmes and Lucien Rodriguez.[9] The World Boxing Association, from which the World Boxing Organization had not yet separated, later followed suit[10] by voting to reduce their championship distances to 12 rounds on October 19, 1987.[11] While the International Boxing Federation, which had recently broken away from the WBA, continued to hold onto the position there was no documented medical evidence to show a 15-round fight is more dangerous than a 12-round fight, they eventually voted to shorten their championship distance to 12 rounds as well on June 3, 1988.[12]
The last heavyweight 15-rounder title fight was on October 16, 1987 between Mike Tyson and Tyrell Biggs.[2][13] The last middleweight 15-rounder title fight was a World Boxing Board title match on June 7, 1997 in which Jose Alfredo Flores won a split decision over Eric Holland in Ruidoso, New Mexico.[14]
Garcia looked bad following Martin around the ring not able to pull the trigger time and time again and was an obvious loser. He better go back to 140.
Ken, you are right. Garcia’s timing was a few steps behind Martin nearly the whole fight. Garcia was very flat-footed stepping in many times and the last thing he would let go of was his hands. Not impressive.
Funny because he was actually fighting a 140 pounder! Mikey asked for the catch weight!! Maybe he’s lucky not getting the PAC fight??
Bro! Not only should you have been more active in your career, but also chasing a 5th weight class title has been your undoing! I seriously believe that if you had settled down @40, you’d be making title defense 25 by now
Very true and very well said
I like Garcia, even he knows he was losing!
Garcia doesn’t seem to be a bad sort, but no he wasn’t winning, nor was it a draw like that one crook judge wrote down. Can’t blame him for thinking whatever. I blame the ones that keep putting it in headlines like this.
mikey you got beat clearly, he outclassed you and I never even heard of this guy and Ive been following boxing for the last 35yrs.
Sandor Martin is the current European champion (remind the undisputed champion of 140 is european…), you should watch boxing beyond USA and Mexico…
WE SEE THIS STORY OVER AND OVER AND YET OVER AGAIN… FIGHTER GETS A FEW BUCKS AND RESTS… THAT’S NATURAL AND WHEN IT’S TIME TO GET INTO SHAPE WHICH HE WAS THEY LOSE FOCUS AND THEY LOSE A STEP HERE OR THERE… WHENS THE LAST TIME WE SEEN GGG LOOK GOOD NOT MUCH ACTIVITY COMING FROM HIM ANYMORE EITHER… A GOOD FIGHTER IS AN ACTIVE FIGHTER AND ALWAYS FIGHTING… BUT WORKING ONCE A YEAR IS NOT GOOD EVEN FOR THE BEST FOR MICKEY OR ANYBODY ELSE… WE KNOW THIS AND THE SAD PART IS THEY KNOW IT TOO… AND SO IT GOES
Mikey just needs to retire. He has not beaten anyone meaningful at welterweight. Stop making excuses.
Delusional like when he was raising his hands after rounds he lost against Spence.
Garcia looked like Mike Tyson after he fired trainer Kevin Rooney. Garcia was slow and he kept going straight in and out with no head movement. It’s like they forgot everything they learned thru the years.
probably time to retire.
he has already made real money
Garcia thinking he won the fight is more embarrassing that Trump thinking he won the election. The lengths losers go to delude themselves is almost paranormal!
Good judges. All from California but gave the victory to the unknown (in USA) guest in a very fair way because deserved to win this fight. This should be more often or always, but unfortunately it doesn,t happens. Congratulations for taking the fair decision.
I agree except for the judge who ruled the bout a draw. Hopefully, the commission will review his scores and provide him with some feedback. (Note: I’m not holding my breath.)
definitely time to retire
the problem with someone like sandor is that he would only last a few rounds with the likes of crawford or spence any other serious welter
again garcia is finished
Mikey has more excuses than a guy going to jail. Yes Mikey he was, “moving around”. That’s called footwork lol. Mikey went onto to say, “he was able to counter a few times.” Meanwhile Mikey case for himself is, “I was the aggressor looking for the fight.” Just because you are the aggressor it doesn’t mean its effective aggressiveness. His argument was weak and he lost. He doesn’t have the fire anymore. One loss should have been motivating enough. Boxers like Mikey lose their first fight and they get comfortable with losing. 10 rounds- 12 rounds, the fire is not there.
I am a big fan of Mikey and believe he clearly lost that fight. The judge that scored the bout a draw was being very kind to Mikey. I’m glad the other judges scored the bout fairly. I wonder what’s next for Mikey. IMO potential fights with Tank and other top fighters are shelved and will go to more deserving fighters. Mikey fights a very modest number of times, but for big pay days. Now the big pay days will be much more elusive. Should he simply retire?
I’m a Mikey Garcia fan but he was getting out boxed in every way for every round of that fight. It reminded me of Joshua/Usyk he could not solve Martin surprisingly to him , me and the boxing world. He either was not ready , out of shape or not the same fighter he has been in the past. He lost soundly and convincingly and needs to come out of denial . His future in boxing will depend on that.
Fought with NO URGENCY!!
Mikey looked soft around the middle and fought at low gear throughout the entire fight. He never stepped it up to a higher gear. I was watching the Soto fight earlier and thought the two fights were eerily similar. One man stalking and looking menacing but not punching while getting potshot in each round.
Mikey looked exceptionally slow and seemed stuck and unable to let his hands go at an elusive target. This is the type of performance I expect to see from a fighter well beyond his prime and unable to take advantages of openings as they occur. To be fair, Martin was elusive and much better than anyone thought. However, Mikey really needs to take future fights seriously and get in better shape. He looked rusty and unprepared for what Martin had to offer. I’ve seen much better footwork and timing from him in the past.
It was an atrocious performance by Mikey as he was easily outboxed almost all night. Prograis would have feasted on this version of Mikey. He should really consider retiring if he has lost the fire necessary to train hard and give everything he’s got in future matches.
Garcia was dominant when he was scoring big knockouts on HBO but promotional issues in his prime causing him to miss close to 3 years and recent inactivity of close to 2 years looks like it has ruined a HOF career
The judges are so bad that any fighter can sa he thought he won and it’s like yeah that’s fair, lol not. What a shitshow
Maybe Mikey doesn’t feel that he was beaten-beaten, but he has to admit he was definitely out-tagged the whole fight. Usually, that’s enough to earn an L.
This loss was all about rust and lack of conditioning. Being in shape and being in fighting shape are 2 different things.
Its hard to get motivated for these type of fighters. Its always the loss that wakes you up.
No Mikey you lost the fight Maryin outbox you and was more accurate than you.