Roman Martinez vs. Mikey Garcia: Preview and Prediction for Title Fight
Roman Martinez vs. Mikey Garcia will be the main event of a loaded HBO boxing card on Saturday night from Corpus Christi, TX, and the WBO Super Featherweight Championship will be on the line.
Martinez first captured the WBO title in 2009, and then won it back in 2012. He's as gritty and determined as they come, and he'll be looking to make the third successful defense of his second reign. But that won't come easy. His opponent has been a buzzsaw of late and is ranked amongst the most exciting young fighters in the sport.
Garcia captured featherweight gold earlier this year, but he lost the title on the scales when he failed to make weight in his last fight. This will be his first bout at super featherweight, and he'll be looking to secure his second world championship.
This one has all the makings of real war! Read on for your complete preview and prediction of Roman Martinez vs. Mikey Garcia for the WBO Super Featherweight Championship!
Tale of the Tape
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Mikey Garcia will carry a clear advantage in punching power into this fight. He's knocked out over 84 percent of the foes who have stepped into the ring with him, and he may be even stronger now without having to drain weight to make the featherweight limit.
Roman Martinez has a two-inch height advantage, but gives up an inch in reach to his younger foe. Martinez likes to come forward and trade with his opponents, but he lacks the type of one-punch stopping power that Garcia possesses.
Record: | Roman Martinez
27-1-2, 16 KO | Mikey Garcia
32-0 27 KO |
| Age: | 30 | 25 |
| Height: | 5'8" | 5'6" |
| Weight: | 130 (Last Fight) | 128 (Last Fight) |
| Reach: | 67" | 68" |
| Stance: | Orthodox | Orthodox |
| Hometown: | Vega Baja, Puerto Rico | Ventura, California |
| Rounds Boxed: | 204 | 150 |
Main Storylines
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Roman "Rocky" Martinez will walk into the ring on Saturday night as the defending champion, but it's pretty clear that he's the underdog in the fight. It's often said that styles make fights, and Martinez seems to have one that is tailor-made for his opponent.
He captured the WBO Super Featherweight Championship—for the second time—on the undercard of last September's middleweight clash between Sergio Martinez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. His victory over Miguel Beltran Jr. also highlighted everything that's great, but also risky, about his style.
The fight was an absolute war, and Martinez showed great heart and determination to get through it. He's made two defenses since, and by most accounts, was lucky to escape with his title in a draw with Juan Carlos Burgos and a split-decision victory over Diego Magdaleno.
Mikey Garcia is one of boxing's fastest rising stars. The 25-year-old California native has blown through everyone in his path, and he will be seeking his second world championship in as many weight classes.
He's struggled to make the featherweight limit of 126 pounds for a while now, and he lost the world title he captured from Orlando Salido on the scales before his fight with Juan Manuel Lopez in June. Garcia and his team are likely figuring that the extra weight—and the reduced pressure to drain to make 126—will make him faster and stronger.
Garcia is an exciting, engaging fighter. He has the potential to become a big star, and HBO is banking on him to do just that. This will be a major test on that road.
Strengths
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Roman Martinez is one of the toughest and most determined fighters you'll find in the sport. Nothing about his physical tools sticks out, but he makes the most of them. He's the type of fighter who just keeps coming.
He possesses good—not great—punching power, and has proven to have a very sturdy chin. He has the ability to box effectively if he chooses, but by default seems to always find himself brawling with his foe.
Martinez is highly aggressive, and he places a ton of pressure on his opponent. He has tremendous stamina and conditioning, and he's relentless. His fast pace and ability to go deep into fights with no dropoff in activity are big issues for anyone he faces.
Mikey Garcia is an excellent boxer with stopping power in his punches. He has a wealth of experience, having grown up around a boxing ring in a fighting family, and is trained by his brother—and former featherweight champion—Robert Garcia.
As he showed in his fights with Orlando Salido and Juan Manuel Lopez, Garcia is an extremely patient fighter. He doesn't run in guns blazing, and is great at waiting for opportunities to counter and uncork extremely powerful shots.
Garcia has 27 knockouts in 32 professional wins, and has the ability to knockout his opponent with one shot, or to systematically break them down.
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Weaknesses
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Roman Martinez has one major flaw that could cost him in this fight. He's a very straight up fighter and has a bad tendency to neglect his defense during fights. For most of his career, his style has been to take a few punches in order to land shots of his own, but against someone with Mikey Garcia's punching power, that could be a recipe for disaster.
His style is certainly what makes him an exciting fighter and draws people to watch his fights. But it also means that he gets hit a lot more than necessary, and he cannot afford that in this particular fight. It's difficult to see what he can change, and at this point, the leopard probably won't be able to change his spots.
Mikey Garcia hasn't shown a ton in terms of glaring weaknesses thus far, but he will be fighting at a new weight and taking on a relentless action fighter right out of the gate. It wouldn't be overly surprising if it took him a few rounds to acclimate himself.
The biggest knock on Garcia, thus far, is that he hasn't really been tested. Orlando Salido is the biggest name on his resume to date, and Mikey battered him from pillar to post over eight mostly one-sided rounds. But Salido—who admittedly has looked better than at any point in his career as of late—did carry 11 defeats into that bout. Garcia then easily handled the shell of Juan Manuel Lopez in June, and some would say hasn't been adequately tested yet.
Roman Martinez Will Win If...
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Roman Martinez is all guts and cannot be counted out of this or, pretty much, any bout. But he's going to need to do a lot of things right in order to score the upset and retain his championship.
Mikey Garcia has the type of style that can make any fighter who isn't defensively aware have a tough night at the office. Martinez will need to make sure, first and foremost, that he fights with smart aggression, throwing punches and maintaining a high activity rate, but also making sure not to leave himself wide open for return fire.
Martinez has a bad tendency to start slow in fights—something that has also at times been an issue for Garcia—and then come on in the middle rounds. He should look to jump on Garcia early and try and bank some of the early round and put his opponent behind the eight ball.
If he can stay on top of him all night, not give him space for counters and stay defensively aware, Martinez's heart and determination could be enough to lead him to an upset.
Mikey Garcia Will Win If...
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Mikey Garcia can crack with the best of them, but he's much more comfortable making his power a factor in a boxing match than in a brawl. We know that Roman Martinez will come forward all night long, and Garcia should use that aggression against him to make him miss and make him pay.
Both fighters have a propensity for starting slow in their fights. That means the early rounds could be on the table to be stolen by either guy, and Garcia would be wise to try and snatch as many of those as possible. He's the favorite in the fight, but Martinez has proven to have a very sturdy chin. If the fight goes the distance, many judges score on activity.
Garcia will need to start out strong, countering Martinez's aggression and landing clean, crisp shots to stop him in his tracks. Rocky is known for having a durable chin, but he hasn't faced anyone as precise and hard-hitting as Garcia. When Mikey connects, it will be interesting.
He needs to make sure that he doesn't get swarmed and counters effectively enough to create space for landing his bigger punches. He was highly effective at doing just that against Orlando Salido in January.
And the Winner Will Be...
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It's hard not to admire and appreciate Roman Martinez's heart and determination. He'll never be confused for the most technically sound or super-talented fighter in the game, but he's willed his way to 26 victories and two world championships.
Unfortunately, he'll be taking on an animal on Saturday night.
Mikey Garcia has blitzed through every fighter placed in front of him. Many felt that Orlando Salido's swarming, power-punching style would give him fits, and he absolutely dominated him for eight one-sided rounds, scoring four knockdowns.
He will benefit greatly from no longer needing to cut weight in order to get down to the featherweight limit, and he'll be stronger and quicker as a result.
Martinez will attempt to swarm him, and he'll have some success in the early rounds. Make no mistake about it, this fight will be competitive—even if just from the champion's indomitable will—and might even be pretty close to even around the midway point.
But Garcia will get into his offensive flow, and he'll exploit the glaring holes in Rocky's defense. In the second half of the fight, he'll find more homes for his precision, power counters and he'll begin inflicting serious damage.
The end will come inside the distance, with Martinez bravely succumbing to Garcia's onslaught in the ninth round due to cuts or an accumulation of punishment.
Prediction: Garcia TKO 9 Martinez
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