November 2, 2024

Garcia vs Easter, Benavidez card in works for July 28

A bunch of belts may be on the line on Showtime this summer.

Photo by Bryan Steffy/Getty Images

A July 28 card on Showtime featuring a lightweight unification match between Mikey Garcia and Robert Easter Jr is in the works, according to ESPN, and would take place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

The show would also feature the return of super middleweight titleholder David Benavidez.

Garcia (38-0, 30 KO) last fought on March 10 in San Antonio, defeating Sergey Lipinets by hard-fought decision to win the IBF 140-pound title. In a somewhat surprising move, Garcia chose to vacate that title and keep his WBC 135-pound belt, which he won in January 2017 from Dejan Zlaticanin with a highlight-reel knockout.

Easter (21-0, 14 KO) is an interesting style matchup for Garcia, a tall and rangy lightweight who has not overly impressed in recent outings. He won the vacant IBF lightweight belt in 2016 against Richard Commey, and has defended against Luis Cruz, Denis Shafikov, and Javier Fortuna. The win over Fortuna, who missed weight for the bout, was a split decision on January 20.

Benavidez (20-0, 17 KO) was last seen on February 17, dominating Ronald Gavril in a rematch of their 2017 Fight of the Year contender.

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