Mikey Garcia Makes Surprising Pick for His Toughest Opponent

By Keith Idec

NEW YORK – Mikey Garcia has fought former world champions in seven of his past eight fights.

Juan Manuel Lopez and Orlando Salido are among the opponents the unbeaten Garcia has defeated during that stretch. According to Garcia, though, none of those fighters gave him the most difficult fight of his career.

That distinction belongs to Jose Hernandez, a journeyman Garcia faced in his 14th professional fight. Mexico’s Hernandez took an 11-6-1 record into their August 2008 fight in Las Vegas, but he gave Garcia a tough time on the Zab Judah-Joshua Clottey undercard at Palms Casino Resort Spa.

The 29-year-old Garcia (36-0, 30 KOs), who’ll face Cincinnati’s Adrien Broner (33-2, 24 KOs, 1 NC) on Saturday night in Brooklyn, eventually stopped Hernandez in the eighth round. Nothing about their encounter was easy, however, before referee Tony Weeks stopped it 24 seconds into the eighth round.

“The guy was a tough fighter, man,” Garcia recalled. “He was on a good win streak. He came to win. A rugged southpaw. I dropped him in the second round. [He] came back and he kept fighting. I finally stopped him in the eighth round, but it was a very tough fight.

“It was one of those tests that promoters give you to see what you’re really made of. I was able to win. After that, most fights that were supposed to be tough, I made ‘em easy because of the game plan or just the kind of fighter that I am.”

Hernandez, 35, went on to lose his following four fights and retired with an 11-11-1 record, including five knockouts. Garcia was the first opponent to knock out Hernandez.

Nearly nine years later, the three-division champion from Oxnard, California, figures he’ll walk away from the Broner bout with a different opinion of which opponent gave him the toughest test of his career. The WBC lightweight champion will move up from 135 pounds to 140 for their “Showtime Championship Boxing” main event Saturday night at Barclays Center (Showtime; 9 p.m. ET/PT).

“This fight coming up might be my toughest fight,” Garcia said. “Like I’ve said, Adrien Broner, when he’s at his best, he’s a beast. He’s strong. He’s powerful, fast, can counter-punch, and that’s what I expect. I expect a tough fight from him.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.