By Dan Ambrose: Undefeated featherweight contender Mikey Garcia (29-0, 25 KO’s) is looking to get his first halfway decent test of his career out of the way this Saturday night against non-top 15 ranked Jonathan Victor Barros (34-3-, 18 KO’s) Wynn Resort, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

The fight is scheduled for 10 rounds, and it’s a slight test for Garcia in that Barros is a good fighter, but his two losses in his last three fights kind of tell you the whole reason why he was selected to face the 24-year-old Garcia rather than someone that is fighting at a high level right now.

Garcia’s handlers have been careful not to put him in with anyone that is too good for him and he’s responded well by building up a perfect record. However, this turn out to bite Garcia and his management in their backsides when Garcia fights for the world title against WBO featherweight champion Orlando Salido next year in January. That’s going to be tough for Garcia to make that transition from poor to mediocre 2nd and 3rd tier opposition to the very best at featherweight in Salido.

Barros, a former WBA World featherweight champion, has recently lost to Celestino Caballero and Juan Salgado. Barros has kind of been put in his place by those defeats, especially in the loss to Salgado. He was out-boxed in that fight. Barros can slug a little if you accommodate him.

Mikey Garcia will probably elect to use his jab because he’s not used to fighting guys that punch back at him because of the weak opposition he’s been matched up against. We could see Garcia look a lot different in this fight than he’s looked in the past if he’s not able to stop Barros with his single pot shots.

Garcia needs a lot of work on his game because he’s too over reliant on trying to knockout everyone he faces with one shot. He lacks a balanced attack and doesn’t throw combinations. If Barros can take his power we could see a potential upset here.