By Miguel Rivera

For two and a half years, Mikey Garcia was 'frozen' due to a contractual dispute with his former promoter, Top Rank. After solving his problem, Garcia returned to the ring in July and crushed former champion Elio Rojas.

A far more complicated opponent than Rojas, Garcia will challenge World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight champion Dejan Zlaticanin of Montenegro.

"He is a strong and dangerous fighter, he has heavy hands. Other boxers did not want to face him. He's a threat, he's undefeated, he's young and he's very hungry, " said Garcia (35-0, 29 KOs) to Albert Perez, as they discussed Zlaticanin (22-0, 15 KOs).

"A lot of people look to take an easier path to a championship. I'm not like them, I want the biggest challenges."

The 28-year-old unbeaten fighter is aware that after a long period of inactivity, he has a lot of ground to reclaim in order to get back to the moment when he won World Boxing Organization (WBO) titles at featherweight and super featherweight. But he indicated that his skills remain intact.      

"I did not miss a step. I remained trained and in shape. But I'm already back here and [this fight against Zlaticanin] is just the beginning," said Garcia.

Since Garcia returned to the ring, there has been a lot of talk about a possible fight between him and the current super featherweight champion of the WBO, Vasyl Lomachenko (7-1, 5 KOs), who is viewed as one of the best pound for pound today.  

"I've already said that if [Lomachenko] goes up to 135 pounds, we have to make a fight," Garcia said. "If Bob [Arum] and Lomachenko's manager do not want to, why am I going to waste my time? I've never looked for anyone, they're looking for me. "

Garcia recognizes the talent of the Ukrainian, but still believes that he hasn't reached his level as of yet.

"I'm on a different level. He is doing what I already did three years ago. He's just catching up with me. From what I hear, the TV ratings for his fights do not compare to the ones I had [on HBO]," he said.