By Dan Ambrose: Unbeaten featherweight contender Mikey Garcia (30-0, 26 KO’s) added another win to his resume last Saturday with an 8th round TKO victory over Jonathan Victor Barros (34-4-1, 18 KO’s) at the Wynn Resort, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Garcia was struggling with Barros at the time that Garcia dropped him with a big left hook in the 8th. Barros got to his feet staggering a little and then told the referee Robert Byrd that he didn’t want to continue.

The win now sets the 24-year-old Garcia up with a title shot against WBO featherweight champion Orlando Salido (39-11-2, 27 KO’s) in January. But if I was Garcia’s trainer I wouldn’t make that fight for him now because he didn’t show anything in his performance against Barros that would indicate that he’s ready to take on a warrior like Salido. Garcia doesn’t look ready at all.

Here are the problems that Garcia showed in his win over Barros that would get him beat against Salido:

* Still not throwing combinations
* Admiring his work after throwing single shots
* Too easy to hit
* Doesn’t fight well when his opponents pressure him
* Very stiff and mechanical
* No punch variation – it’s either a jab, right hand or left hook
* Not good at winning rounds due to a poor work rate
* Loads up with everything instead of using his boxing skills
* Lacks inside skills
* Looks too big for featherweight. Garcia looked like a welterweight against Barros.

It would be intriguing to know exactly how much Garcia weighed when he stepped inside the ring against Barros because he looked like a welterweight to me. The featherweight limit is 126 lbs, and Garcia looked at least 20 pounds heavier than that. I was struck by how much bigger Garcia looked compared to Barros and I’m not talking about just his height.

Garcia looked much heavier and I thought I was looking at a fighter roughly the same size as Oscar De La Hoya when he previously fought at 147. I think a lot of Garcia’s power at featherweight stems from him being so big/heavy for the weight class. I have my doubts that he could fight at featherweight if there were rehyration limits for the fights.