Former four division world champion Mikey Garcia (38-0, 30 KOs) is one of the few fighters who refuses to have a promoter.
Garcia has been a free agent since 2016, when he officially reached an agreement to part ways with Top Rank.
Leaving Top Rank was not easy. Garcia waged a two year legal battle, which kept him away from the ring throughout the entire process.
Garcia took a look at some of the other fighters who left Top Rank - and watched their name value and bank accounts grow when they became free agents.
He wants to follow in their footsteps.
"We've seen other fighters' careers take off in similar situations. Like Oscar De La Hoya after he left Top Rank. Or Floyd Mayweather after he left Top Rank. Or Miguel Cotto after he left Top Rank. I'm not saying there's a pattern, but those guys all did a lot better after they left there, too," Garcia told Sports Illustrated.
Garcia well may be on his way to achieving his legacy goals.
He's currently one of the highest paid fighters in the United States - and there is a line of boxers who are willing to face him from 135 all the way to 147.
"The next few years will be the best of my career," Garcia says. "There's no other boxer who's in a position like I'm in. I want to leave my name cemented in the history of boxing."
Promoter Richard Schaefer believes Garcia has what it takes to become the next "face of boxing."
"There's a void in boxing right now for somebody to really own that top spot," Schaefer said.
"I mean, be the face of the sport. Not just in the Hispanic market, like Canelo, and not just with the hardcore boxing fans like Golovkin is. Mikey is skilled, he's undefeated (38-0), he has power (30 knockouts), he's bilingual, his family is boxing royalty…. He's the perfect guy to represent boxing moving forward."
Garcia is back tonight in a Showtime televised main event from Staples Center in Los Angeles, where he stakes his WBC lightweight crown in a high-stakes unification against IBF world champion Robert Easter.