by Cliff Rold

That’s one way to do it.

Coming off the floor in round two, former Featherweight beltholder Mikey Garcia showed no ill effects from the brief moment of adversity and otherwise put on a clinic Saturday night, outboxing and ultimately knocking out Roman Martinez to win a belt in his second weight division.

A win over Martinez doesn’t make one the top guy in class at Jr. Lightweight; that honor still probably rests with the more established Takashi Uchiyama.  A fight between Garcia and Uchiyama is already probably the best fight that can be made in class.  Geography and market realities may never allow for it but in a better world…

…oh, what a fight that could be.

Instead, we may get Garcia versus Yuriorkis Gamboa.  That fight could fall to 130 or see Garcia up another class to challenge the interim WBA titlist at Lightweight.  How would Garcia handle the speed of Gamboa?  Would his precision overcome Gamboa’s athleticism?  Could Gamboa check the chin of Garcia in a way no one else has yet?

That’s a fight for a good enough world indeed.

So, yes, Garcia arrives at 130 in a big way.  Who else made ratings move this week?

Jr. Middleweight: Demetrius Andrade rises, and Vanes Martirosyan drops, after their contest for a vacant belt at 154.

Jr. Lightweight: Martinez drops a few after the loss to Martinez and veteran Juan Carlos Salgado exits after a second straight knockout loss (albeit this one coming at 135).

Featherweight: Garcia exits the ratings at 126.  Nicholas Walters enters.

Jr. Featherweight: Despite the fight taking place at 126, it remains unclear if Nonito Donaire will follow his rematch win over Vic Darchinyan by staying at Featherweight or coming back to challenge the man who took his 122 lb. crown, Guillermo Rigondeaux.  For now, Donaire remains rated at 122.  So too does Darchinyan who may have fought his finest fight since a win over Cristian Mijares to unify the 115 lb. crown.

Flyweight: Having vacated his belt at 108, former two-division titlist Roman Gonzalez stopped recent title challenger Oscar Blanquet in two and enters the top ten in his third weight class.  Blanquet went the distance with World Champion Akira Yaegashi in his last start.

The full results of note and the total impact on the ratings are a click away.

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Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com