Original Article: Fight News
By Miguel Maravilla
Tuesday, February 2, 2019
When it was announced last year that WBC lightweight champion Mikey Garcia (39-0, 30 KOs) would be taking on IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence (24-0, 21 KOs) the whole boxing world was shocked. It was last November as FOX officially announced their early 2019 boxing schedule. Garcia and Spence stood face to face for the first time in New York as Mikey looked up and stared at the champ Spence. Garcia takes on Spence later next month on March 16 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas live on FOX Pay Per View.
“I’m happy that I’m fighting a PPV, a fight of this magnitude, the atmosphere. This just shows what type of fight this is. I’m excited. This is the biggest fight this year,” Mikey Garcia told Fightnews.com®. “I want to prove everyone wrong.”
Mikey returns to the D.F.W. (Dallas/Fort Worth) area as he last fought there back in June of 2013, scoring a spectacular knockout over former world champion Juan Manuel Lopez as I was seated ringside covering my first fight in Texas.
“It feels good to be back fighting in Texas. Last time I was here in Texas the fans showed me a lot of love,” Garcia on returning to the Lone Star State.
Now he will be fighting at the home of Dallas Cowboys and Spence’s hometown. This is definitely the biggest stage for the 31 year old from Riverside by way Oxnard, California. Fighting in “Jerry’s World,” for the first time, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’s stadium which has hosted many spectacular events including 3 major world title fights, 2 Manny Pacquiao fights and Canelo fight. Going into hostile territory, Garcia will be stepping into Spence’s turf as the Dallas native hails from nearby De Soto. It’s said that Texas has the best boxing fans, Garcia is confident he will have his mass wave of supporters on fight night.
“I believe there is going to be fans for both sides. I have fans everywhere. I have fought in Texas before and I have fans there too.” Mikey said on fighting in Spence’s hometown. “I know a lot of fans that will be there are big boxing fans. They will enjoy the night,”
Coming off a unanimous decision over Robert Easter Jr. in his last fight, Garcia dropped Easter and dominated setting up the fight with Spence. It was that night following his victory at the postfight press conference that Garcia hinted on the possibility of fighting Spence.
For Spence, this will be the third defense of his IBF title he won over Kell Brook in May of 2017. Spence has successfully defended his title twice as he stopped former champion Lamont Peterson and made quick work of Carlos Ocampo with a first round knockout in his homecoming at the Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Texas, the Dallas Cowboys training facility.
“He reminds me a lot of me on how he fights. He is a technical fighter that does everything right,” Garcia said about Spence. “I see a lot of things I can take advantage of,” Garcia said. “He is a world champion and was at the Olympics. He has done a lot of good for his career.”
In preparation for Spence, Garcia has been training in Riverside, California with his brother respected trainer, former world champion Robert Garcia along with their father Eduardo Garcia. In this camp, Garcia has also been training strength and conditioning with Victor Conte’s SNAC program.
