By Jake Donovan
Rising featherweight Mikey Angel Garcia punched his way into title contention Saturday evening with a punishing 11th round stoppage win over Cornelius Lock at the Energy Arena in Laredo, Texas.
The bout served as the televised co-feature on Fox Sports’ “Top Rank Live” series.
In a match pitting youth versus experience, conventional versus southpaw and rising talent versus noted spoiler, Garcia was wise to take the cautious route in the early going. Lock served as the aggressor at the start of the fight, while Garcia spent the first two rounds or so trying to figure out a way inside.
The Californian would discover an opening in a big way in the third round. Picking up the pace, Garcia threw combinations with greater confidence, with a jab and straight right hand to score his first knockdown of the night. Lock hit the ground hard and spent most of the rest of the round trying to get his legs back. A left hook later in the round had him in deeper trouble, but he found a way to survive.
Despite laying hands on his opponent, Garcia didn’t attempt to finish him off in the fourth, instead remaining composed, which allowed Lock to work his way back into the fight. The Detroit native enjoyed moments of success in the fourth as well as much of the fifth before being rocked by a right hand late in the frame.
Most of the middle rounds featured Garcia remaining in his envelope, and Lock trying to hang punch-for-punch, but struggling to do anything about the increasing disparity on the scorecards with each passing round.
Lock’s luck changed in the ninth, landing a crisp head shot to briefly stun Garcia and control the rest of the round. The momentum carried over into the 10th, as Lock boxed with more confidence while Garcia struggled to adjust. A combination by the undefeated 22-year old later in the round helped change that up, with Lock’s face busting open at round’s close.
It looked as if Lock wouldn’t come off of his stool for the 11th, looking like a defeated fighter in between rounds while his cornermen did their best to tend to his wounds. The veteran sucked it up and braved it for one more round, but it was all for naught as his night would soon come to a close.
Garcia recognized a beaten fighter in front of him and waited for the perfect moment to pick off his wounded prey. A lead right hand put Lock on the canvas for the second time in the fight. Referee Jon Schorle didn’t even bother with a count, waving off the fight instantaneously.
The official time was 1:09 of the 11th round.
Garcia improves to 23-0 (19KO) with the win, already his fourth of the year. Whether he elects to remain busy or stand in line and wait his turn at a title shot remains to be seen. He has plenty of options, with the grand prize in the wings of serving as the mandatory challenger to the winner of next month’s featherweight title unification match between Yuriorkis Gamboa and Orlando Salido.
Heading in the opposition direction, Lock’s days as a featherweight spoiler appear to be done. The loss is his second straight and third in his last four fights as he falls to 19-6-1 (12KO).
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .
