By Miguel Rivera
Mikey Garcia was regarded as one of the best fighters in the world when he won the super featherweight championship of the World Boxing Organization (WBO) in 2013.
On his undefeated record he had a win against Orlando Salido and defended his crown against Roman Martinez and Juan Carlos Burgos. His father and brother, Eduardo and Robert Garcia as his trainers had polished his talent to make him a candidate to face Manny Pacquiao.
But then he had a problem with his promotional contract with Top Rank, and fought them in a legal war to break the agreement - and that battle lasted two and half years.
It was not until last April of this year when Garcia (34-0, 28KOs) and Top Rank reached an agreement in their legal dispute.
The boxer will finally return to the ring on July 30th, when he faces Elio Rojas (24-2, 14KOs) as part of a Premier Boxing Champions on Showtime card from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The fight will be the co-featured attraction to the featherweight showdown between Leo Santa Cruz and Carl Frampton.
Garcia, who turns 29 years old in December, believes that he's still the same fighter - if not better.
"There was time to vacation, relax, spend the holidays with family, parties, things that most of time as a boxer you cannot do," said Garcia, who weighed 172 pounds when he returned from a holiday in Mexico earlier this year.
"Yes there were some difficult moments when the court didn't say anything. I am very close to achieving great things in boxing. I don't think this time away from the ring will affect me in any way. My strength, my reflexes - are all perfect. I'm willing to fight for a world title, I'm ready for any champion. What I got is nothing compared to what I'll do. I'm still the same [fighter] or better than I was before."
