Mikey Garcia: Have we been watching the same guy?

Boxingnews24.com

By Hector Gonzalez: I decided to write this quick write up as I’m reading BN24 comments regarding predictions for Mikey Garci

a vs Adriene Broner. I’ll be honest, I’m a bit confused? Many fans are picking Broner to win, I get it, it sounds like some fans just want Broner to win and that’s okay. However I don’t understand the reasoning, It’s as if we don’t have the same understanding as to who Mikey Garcia is and what he is capable of.

So Mikey Garcia is the 1/5 favorite and many fans are having a hard time excepting that. In fact some casino’s have him as high as 3/10, -750. In other words, if you really believe that Broner has a chance, then you should go ahead on put some money on it because Vegas is clearly saying the opposite. But it’s not even about favorite or not favorite or even really about what Vegas thinks. This is really about having an understanding of who Mikey Garcia is .

I’ll be honest I’m not the biggest Broner fan but I respect him and understand his marketability. However, in my opinion, Broner was not a clear winner against Daniel Ponce De Leon, Adrian Granados or Fernando Quintero. I’m not arguing that he didn’t win, I’m arguing that he was not convincing. It’s as if he’s availability was exposed in these fights. It’s not that he’s not a good fighter, it’s that he’s a fighter (like Amir Khan for example) that might be more marketable than fully polished; and that’s okay. The problem with these fighters is that the hype is somewhat elusive and I think that’s what’s happening now.

Mikey Garcia had some promotional issues with Top Rank and moved over with Al Haymond, that’s a main reason why he’s been inactive lately. But I’ll be honest, I know many fans will not agree with me but I see Mikey Garcia in the same caliber as Vasyl Lomachenko and Terence Crawford, it might be questionable whether he could beat Terence Crawford and understandably so but I see him at the very least being competitive.

Garcia passes what we fans refer to as the eye test, 13 out of his last 14 fights have been by KO and his style is very polished. The check hooks that Garcia used against Orlando Salido where damn near flawless, immaculate timing. So my question is this? Are we watching the same fighter? Do fans see Mikey Garcia at the elite level? And why are many fans having trouble seeing Mikey Garcia being the heavy favorite.