By Radio Rahim
Former four division world champion Mikey Garcia is less than a week away from his pay-per-view showdown with IBF welterweight king Errol Spence.
The contest that most experts did not believe would happen is now on the horizon.
Garcia, who holds the WBC world title at lightweight, is moving up by two weight divisions to challenge Spence at 147-pounds at AT&T Stadium in Texas.
To get ready for this fight, Garcia added some muscle mass - but he took precautions to avoid hurting his other attributes.
"We obviously wanted to gain some mass, but we didn't want to lose the speed, the reaction time, the explosiveness. So that's why we went to Victor Conte and SNAC for those weeks that we're up there. And everything went well, I'm happy with the results, I felt great during sparring. My brother, my dad, they all saw the difference but in a positive way. I'm glad that I did all that work because that's what I needed in order to win this fight," Garcia said to BoxingScene.com.
Most observers tab Spence as being too much, due to his size and power. Spence is a big welterweight, who is likely has a future at junior middleweight and middleweight in the next few years.
Garcia is confident that his other attributes will overcome the size and power of Spence.
"You don't just win a fight with power and size. There is a lot more that goes into winning a fight - and that's where I think I have the edge. I'm a better boxer overall - but not by a lot. I've always said, he reminds me of myself. He does everything very well, but I still believe that I do everything a little better.... better timing, better defense, better speed, better counter-punching. Just everything else, I think I'm a little better and that's why I think I'm gonna win," Garcia said.
"The size is a challenge. The size, the weight, the power. But I think all of my other attributes will help me overcome that."
