By Steve Kim
Last weekend, Mikey Garcia thrashed previously undefeated Dejan Zlaticanin with a three round knockout to win the WBC lightweight title at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The fight was carried on Showtime.
It was the third world title for Garcia, who previously captured WBO belts at featherweight and super featherweight.
So what's next for the career of the three-division champ?
Well, to make up for lost time after sitting out for much of 2014 and all of 2015 as he legally battled for his promotional freedom against Top Rank, Garcia intends to be very active in the coming months - with as many as two to three more fights in 2017.
His brother and co-trainer, Robert Garcia, tells BoxingScene.com - "The plan that we have and what we were promised by Showtime is that they were going to give Mikey three fights this year. So if I'm not mistaken they're already planning out a Southern California fight in one of those big venues for June.
"That's what I was told, but this was just a three round fight, Mikey didn't get hurt, he didn't get injured. So I wouldn't mind fighting Mikey hopefully fighting four times because we've got to catch up to the two-and-a-half years that he lost."
Garcia returned to the ring on July 30th of last year, where he stopped former champion Elio Rojas in five rounds. That was his first fight in over two years. The 29-year old Garcia has a record of 36-0 (30 KO's).
"Mikey said he wants to fight three, four months from now and hopefully catch up to those two-and-a-half years. If not, three will be more than enough," Robert Garcia said.
Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com