Mikey Garcia vs. Sandor Martin – live results

By Boxing News - 10/16/2021 - Comments

By Mark Eisner: Unheralded Sandor Martin (39-2, 13 KOs) pulled off a major upset in defeating former four-division world champion Mikey Garcia (40-2, 30 KOs) by 10 round majority decision on Saturday night on DAZN at the Chukchansi Park, in Fresno, California.

The scores were 95-95, 97-93, 97-93  for Martin. Boxing News 24 scored it for Martin 97-93.

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Mikey looked slow of hands, feet and his reflexes looked shot at age 33. He had the appearance of a rusty fighter paying the price for years of inactivity and weight issues.

“I thought I was ahead on the cards,” said Mikey after the fight. “I thought I was winning the fight. I could definitely want a rematch. Two more rounds. I felt like I was coming on.”

Boxing News 24 will be giving updates below:

  • Super featherweight prospect Marc Castro (4-0, 4 KOs) destroyed a terribly over-matched Angel Luna (14-8-1, 7 KOs) by a first round knockout. Castro nailed the 31-year-old Luna with shots at will the entire round. Referee Jack Reiss warned Luna that he would stop the fight if he didn’t start fighting back. When the action resumed, the 22-year-old Castro continued being Luna with every shot he threw. At that point, the referee Reiss had no choice but to step in and stop the mismatch. It was a strange performance by Luna not to use any head movement, and barely throwing any punches. Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn needs to match Castro against better opposition moving forward.
  • In a surprising upset, Jonathan “Bomba” Gonzalez (25-3-1, 14 KOs) defeated WBO light flyweight champion Edwin Soto (19-2, 13 KOs) by a 12 round split decision. Gonzalez used his Mayweather-esque pot shot style hit & move approach to dethrone Gonzalez. The scores were 116-112, 116-111 for Gonzalez, and 116-112 for Soto. Boxing News 24 scored it for Gonzalez 116-112. He was by far the better fighter of the two. The southpaw Gonzalez was picking Soto off with shots the entire fight. In the 12th round, Gonzalez landed a couple of hard left hands to the head of Soto.
  • Undefeated light flyweight contender Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez (14-0, 10 KOs) stopped Alejandro Burgos (18-5-1, 15 KOs) by a fourth round knockout. Rodriguez dropped Burgos twice before the fight was halted. The time of the stoppage was at 1:23 of the fourth round. Unlike the previous contest, this was a one-sided mismatch with Rodriguez hitting the over-matched Burgos at will with shots before stopping him in the fourth.
  • In a thrilling fight, lightweight Brock Jarvis (20-0, 18 KOs) had to walk through fire to stop a surprisingly tough Alejandro Frias (13-5-2, 6 KOs) by a fifth round knockout. The stoppage looked premature, as Frias was fighting back while pinned against the ropes. Earlier in the fight, Frias hurt Jarvis in the second round looked like he was on the verge of a stoppage. Jarvis landed 128 of 30-4 for a 42% connect percentage. The time of the stoppage was at 2:04 of the fifth.
  • Super middleweight Diego Pacheco (13-0, 10 KOs) beat Lucas de Abreu (12-1, 11 KOs) by an eighth round knockout. Pacheco was teeing off on the hurt Abreu in the eighth round, forcing the referee to step in and halt the contest at 2;21 of the round.
  • Undefeated middleweight prospect Nakita Ababiy 11-0, 6 KOs) stayed undefeated with an eight round unanimous decision win over journeyman Sanny Duversonne (11-5-2, 8 KOs). Ababiy showed excellent power throughout, but he wasn’t able to get Duversonne out of there. Defensively, Ababiy was getting hit way too much and it was troubling. Ababiy was walking into shots the entire fight. Fortunately for him, Duversonne lacked the power to hurt him because this fight could have ended badly for Ababiy if his opponent had some pop in his punches. The scores were 80-72, 79-73, and 77-75.

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If Mikey-Martin brings in a lot of new subscribers on DAZN, it increases the chances Mikey will get the type of money he wants and requires to face a more talented opponent like Regis Prograis.

Mikey wants to show the world

“We’re excited to be back. We were trying to secure fights for earlier this year.  For one reason or another, we were unable to do so,” said Mikey Garcia to Matchroom Boxing.

“I’m happy to have this opportunity to get back in the ring. It’ll be no different. I’m here to do my job and get a ‘W’ and show the world that I’m still here and there’s plenty more of Mikey Garcia.

“I want to make a statement by coming in and showing all the skills that I have. I want to show that I haven’t lost a beat, and I haven’t lost a step, that I’m still as quick and as strong as ever. I’m hungry and as motivated as ever to get bigger fights.

“Winning this fight in a very clear manner will allow me to show that and tell the world that,” said Mikey. “This helps me to dig deep and give the very best that I have. I want to make sure that I look great and look spectacular.

“No matter what he has, I have something for that,” said Mikey. “That’s exactly what I expect of him. This is a huge opportunity for him,” Garcia said when told that Sandor wants to take his future from him with a victory tonight.

“This is the fight that he needs to get known, and he’s trying to take full advantage of that. This is possibly a bigger fight for him than if he was fighting for a vacant title.

“All the attention and the eyeballs that will be watching, this gives him the opportunity. I know if he beats me, his career takes on much bigger fights,” said Garcia.

Mikey can’t see himself losing

“So that’s the motivation he needs to have leading up to this fight,” Garcia said. “But I’ve been here and done it, and it’s nothing new for me. I’ve faced opponents like him before, and I always get the job done.

“I don’t see myself losing at any point. So there’s no Plan-B to move on somewhere else. I’m winning this fight without a doubt,” said Mikey.

“I’ve put in all the work in the gym. Training camp went well and I’m ready to face the very best Sandra Martin and beat him. I don’t need a knockout, and I don’t think you need a knockout to look spectacular and look great.

“I think a great performance will do that and a victory that will show the world my skill level that will allow me to continue to pursue the bigger fights, fights like Josh Taylor. That’s a huge fight at 140 pounds.

“Maybe before that, we get a fight with Regis Prograis,” Mikey said. “Those are the fights that will lead to much bigger fights. That’s a nice treat to able able to give my fans here an opportunity to see me live.

“I’ve fought in California a handful of times, not many, in my career and now I have the opportunity to do it again. That’s nice. I don’t have to travel to other states and have my fans to fly out to other parts of the country,” said Mikey.

Sandor Martin will push Garcia

“This time it’s just an hour or a couple of hours drive to see me live,” Mikey said. “So that’s always nice. That’s always nice to have love and support from your local fans as well.

“It’s a great card. I think the fans are treated for a nice card of boxing with great prospects, great up-and-coming fighters. There’s lots of action. Our boy Jessie Rodriguez.

“He’s ready. I think people are going to be really excited when they see the kind of fighter he is and they can look forward to seeing more of him in the up-and-coming fights.

“I think you’re going to see a great match-up,” said Mikey about his fight tonight. “Sandra Martin is going to give everything that he has, but that’s going to allow me to perform even better.

“I need someone to push me in order to get the very best out of me. If I have an opponent in front of me that’s being lazy, that doesn’t do it for me. I want the very, very best in front of me so that I can deliver as much as I can.

“I think that’s what Saturday’s going to be. I’m going to show everybody everything that I have and that there’s still much more to give,” said Mikey.

Mikey Garcia (40-1, 30 KOs) wants to show the world that he’s still a relevant fighter tonight when he returns from a long 1.5-year layoff to face Sandor Martin (38-2, 13 KOs) at the Chukchansi Park, Fresno, California. Garcia vs. Martin is the main event on DAZN.

Although Mikey, 33, isn’t calling it a comeback, it feels like one because he’s been out of the ring for 20 months, and that’s a considerable amount of time for any fighter.

Mikey has fought only seven times in the last five years, which is terribly poor for an elite-level fighter. Tonight’s fight could impact the purse and the type of opponent Mikey gets for his next contest.