• Twitter: @TeamMikeyGarcia
• Facebook: Facebook.com/TopRankMikeyGarcia
• World championship fights: 1-0, 0 KOs…
• WBO featherweight world champion…
• Former NABF featherweight champion, two successful defenses…
• Former NABO featherweight champion, one successful defense…
• 2005 National PAL Championships (amateur), 132 pounds - Gold Medalist...
• 2004 National Junior Golden Gloves Championships (amateur), 132 pounds, Cadet Division – Gold Medalist...

At the age of 25, Mikey is a six-year pro. The WBO featherweight world champion, he comes from a strong family boxing tradition - he is the younger brother, by almost 13 years, of former IBF junior lightweight world champion Robert Garcia, who is also his co-manager and co-trainer. Their father and Mikey’s other co-trainer, Eduardo Garcia, was the long-time trainer of retired former IBF and WBA 154-pound world champion Fernando Vargas.

Mature beyond his years, Mikey is considered by many observers to be one of boxing’s top young talents at any weight - he has stayed active in the ring and given sensational performances.

He won the WBO world title with an eight-round technical decision against defending champion Orlando Salido in his last fight on January 19.

After the fight, Dan Rafael wrote on ESPN.com [excerpts]: Most folks figured this fight would be a highly competitive and exciting fight - even though the younger, quicker, sharper Garcia was the favorite to beat Salido. But Garcia was thoroughly dominant.

This was an easy fight to score as Garcia won at least seven of the eight rounds, with a few people giving Salido one round. Garcia was not just winning the rounds, he was doing it easily. Garcia scored four knockdowns in the fight to open a massive lead. He floored Salido twice in the first round. He went down again in the third round from an uppercut and then for the fourth time early in the fourth round from a left hand. Garcia was doing as he pleased and it was impressive that Salido, whose face was bruised and swelling, was able to make it through the eighth round.

But just before the end of the eight round, he crashed his head directly into Garcia's nose and broke it badly. Garcia was having trouble breathing and his nose was obviously crooked. The ringside doctor examined the nose after the eighth round and told referee Benjy Esteves that Garcia could not continue, and Esteves stopped the fight and sent it to the scorecards for a technical decision.

Garcia, who was masterful in the best performance of his career, was not happy to have the fight end like that. Nonetheless, Garcia fulfilled the expectation that he would win a title when he turned pro in 2006.

For Garcia, this could be the start of a lengthy title reign. [End Rafael item]

Mikey said, “My style is very technical. I’m a counterpuncher. I don’t consider myself to be an aggressive brawler or pressure fighter. I’m very calm and technical in the ring - I fight very smart. I’m not going in for the kill every time. If it happens that I hurt my opponent, then I’ll try to finish him – if I drop my opponent, I’ll try to put him out. But that’s not the main thing that I do. I don’t go out there trying to brawl with anybody. I just try to pick their weak spots and work the best.

“I’m naturally righthanded, but I change to southpaw several times during my fights, just for a few rounds depending on my opponent.

“I’m always training. After my fights, I’m always back in the gym in the next few days. We’re always going to be prepared for any fight, any opponent. We’re always going to be in top shape.”

Mikey was an amateur standout and had a win against Danny Garcia, who currently holds the WBC-WBA super lightweight world titles.

Fight by Fight – 2013 – WON WBO F WORLD TITLE - in his last fight on 1-19-13 in New York, NY, he won a technical decision (8^th round) against defending champion Orlando Salido (39-11-2): the bout was co-featured at The Theater in Madison Square Garden, and Mikey dominated; he scored two knockdowns in the 1^st round – the first with a right hand, the second with a left hook that left Salido dazed; Mikey scored another knockdown with a right uppercut in the 3^rd round, then scored another knockdown with a left hook in the 4^th round; Mikey staggered Salido with two right hands in the 5^th round, but Salido showed tremendous determination and came back to win the 7^th round on two scorecards; but Salido broke Mikey’s nose with a headbutt in the 8^th round - the fight was stopped on the accidental foul and went to the scorecards; Mikey led by scores of 79-69, 79-69, 79-70; after the fight, Mikey said, "I trained for this. That's why it looked so easy. I had the perfect fight going on. I was beating him up good, and then he drove his head into my face - but it was accidental. Maybe if we completed the fight, I would have been happier than a technical decision. Then maybe you'd have seen a little more out of me."..."...

2012 - on 11-10 12 in Las Vegas, NV, he won by TKO (8^th round) against former WBA featherweight world champion Jonathan Barros (34-3-1): the bout was co-featured with the Vanes Martirosyan-Erislandy Lara main event; Mikey dominated the fight, and it ended with a spectacular one-punch knockout; Mikey pressed forward, outworked Barros, and consistently landed the harder punches; he scored a knockdown with a left hook to the temple that dropped Barros, face-first, in the 8^th round – Barros got up but told the referee that he did not want to continue, and the referee stopped the fight at 2:24; after the fight, Mikey said, "It's just about patience. We knew the importance of this fight. We weren't getting excited or wild. We have big future plans and we wanted to work this fight and play safe. At the end, we landed a perfect punch. We knew we were in control of the fight, we were winning the majority of the rounds. We didn't want to let him think he was getting in the fight. We wanted to win each round clearly and not give him an opportunity to come into the fight."...

On 9-1-12 in Los Mochis, MX, he won by knockout (2^nd round) against former IBF jr. flyweight world champion Mauricio Pastrana (35-16-2): the fight was on the undercard at Arena TKT Box Tour, and Mikey quickly overpowered him; he scored a knockdown with a right hand in the 2^nd round, and Pastrana was counted out at 1:05…

On 3-10-12 in San Juan, PR, he won by TKO (7^th round) against Bernabe Concepcion (30-5-1): the bout was co-featured at Coliseo Roberto Clemente, and Mikey dominated; he consistently outboxed and outworked Concepcion, landed the harder punches, and steadily wore him down; he scored a knockdown with a right hand in the 7^th round – Concepcion got up, but Mikey rocked him with a series of punches and the referee stopped the fight at 2:33; after six rounds, Mikey led by shutout scores of 60-54 on all three scorecards…

2011 – 2^ND NABF F TITLE DEFENSE - on 10-22-11 in New York, NY, he won by TKO (4^th round) against Juan Carlos Martinez (19-12-1): the fight was co-featured with the Nonito Donaire-Omar Narvaez main event, and Mikey dominated; Martinez raised a swelling around Mikey’s left eye in the 1^st round, but Mikey consistently outworked him, landed the harder punches, and dominated the fight; he scored a knockdown with a left hook in the 3^rd round, then scored two knockdowns with right hands in the 4^th – Martinez got up both times, but Mikey rocked him with series of punches and the referee stopped the fight at 2:40…

1^ST NABF, NABO F TITLE DEFENSE - on 6-4-11 in Los Angeles, CA, he won by knockout (4^th round) against late substitute Rafael Guzman (28-2): the fight was co-featured with the Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.-Sebastian Zbik main event, and Mikey quickly overpowered him; Guzman was cut over his right eye in the 2^nd round; Mikey scored a knockdown with a right hand in the 4^th round, and Guzman was counted out at 1:55; after the fight, Mikey said, “I’m happy with my performance, I think it was a good fight for the people. I’m excited that we won and happy to be part of such big event and to be the co-main bout. I am improving and ready for an opportunity for a world title. If any champs want to give me a title shot, I’m ready.”…

WON NABF, NABO F TITLES - on 3-26-11 in Atlantic City, NJ, he won by TKO (10^th round) against previously undefeated Matt Remillard (23-0): the fight was co-featured with the Yuriorkis Gamboa-Jorge Solis main event, and Mikey dominated; the early rounds were close, but Mikey consistently outworked Remillard, landed the harder punches, and steadily wore him down; Mikey scored two knockdowns in the 9^th round, both with left hooks; he scored another knockdown with a right hand in the 10^th, and Remillard did not continue after the round; Mikey said that he had eaten a slice of pizza on the Boardwalk a few hours before the fight that made him sick to his stomach; after the fight, he said, “This was one of my best performances. After the second round I didn’t know if I could continue - my stomach hurt so bad.”…

2010 – on 12-4-10 in Anaheim, CA, he won by knockout (5^th round) against Olivier Lontchi (18-1-2): the fight was on the undercard of the Humberto Soto-Urbano Antillon main event, and Mikey dominated; he scored a knockdown with a right hand in the 5^th round – Lontchi got up, but Mikey scored another knockdown with a series of punches and Lontchi was counted out at 1:30; after the fight, Mikey said, “I felt good and strong the whole fight. I knew he was a mover and I had to be patient with him. Once I hit him with a right hand and he went down, I knew I had him. I am very happy with getting this victory in front of my people.”…

IBF F TITLE ELIMINATOR - on 8-14-10 in Laredo, TX, he won by TKO (11^th round) against lefthanded Cornelius Lock (19-5-1): the bout was co-featured with the Miguel Vazquez-Ji Hoon Kim main event, and Mikey dominated most of the fight; he scored a knockdown with a right hand in the 3^rd round, then rocked Lock with a left hook later in the round; Lock rallied in the 9^th and again in the 10^th, but Mikey came back and landed a hard series of punches and Lock was cut over his left eye late in the round; Mikey scored a knockdown with a right hand in the 11^th round and Lock was cut over his right eye, and the referee stopped the fight without a count at 1:09…

On 5-8-10 in Aguascalientes, MX, he won a 10 round unanimous decision against Pedro Navarette (24-7-3): the bout was on the undercard of the Antonio Margarito-Roberto Garcia main event, and it was good fight; Navarette gave a strong effort, but Mikey consistently outboxed him and landed the sharper punches; scored 78-74, 79-75, 77-75...

On 4-3-10 in Corpus Christi, TX, he won by TKO (1^st round) against Tomas Villa (22-6-4): Villa is a battle-tested veteran who represented a step up in class for Mikey, but Mikey quickly overpowered him; he scored two knockdowns in the 1^st round, both with right hands, and the referee stopped the fight at 1:07; after the fight, Mikey said, “I wasn’t expecting it to be that quick.He’s a tough opponent who always gives everything he has. I hit him and hurt him. It came quick and victory was on my side tonight. I plan to keep fighting and keep winning. If the opportunity comes by the end of this year or early next year to be fighting for a world title, I’ll be more than happy to take that opportunity.”...

On 1-30-10 in Mexico City, MX, he won by TKO (5^th round) against Arturo Gomez (15-13-5): the bout was on the undercard of the Jorge Arce-Angy Angkota main event; Mikey dominated the fight, but was cut over his right eye; he stopped Gomez at 2:35 of 5^th round...

2009 - on 12-19-09 in Youngstown, OH, he won by knockout (3^rd round) against Yogli Herrera (22-10): the fight was on the undercard of the Kelly Pavlik-Miguel Espino main event; Mikey scored two knockdowns – the first with a left hook, the second with a right hand - in the 3^rd round, and the referee stopped the fight at 2:19...

On 8-29-09 in Grand Prairie, TX, he won by TKO (7^th round) against lefthanded Carlos Rivera (16-3-2): the fight was on the undercard of the Jesus Soto-Karass-Edvan Dos Barros main event; Mikey scored one knockdown with a left hook to the body in the 4^th round, and another knockdown with a left hook to the body in the 5^th; Rivera was cut over his right eye in the 6^th round, the injury worsened, and the referee stopped the fight on the cut at 0:40 of the 7^th round...

On 5-16-09 in Primm, NV, he won by TKO (3^rd round) against Antoney Napunyi (14-5): Mikey dominated the fight; he rocked Napunyi with an unanswered series of punches in the 3^rd round, and the referee stopped the fight at 1:04...

On 2-6-09 in Maywood, CA, he won by TKO (5^th round) against Lucian Gonzalez (9-4-1): the fight was on the undercard of the Jesus Soto-Karass-Carson Jones main event; at the end of the 5^th round; after five rounds, Mikey led by scores of 49-44, 49-44, 49-46...

2008 – on 10-31-08 in Las Vegas he won an 8 round unanimous decision against lefthanded Walter Estrada (34-6): the fight was co-featured at the Hard Rock; Estrada pressed forward, but Mikey boxed and counterpunched well and dominated most of the fight; Estrada scored a knockdown with a left hand in the 4^th round, but Mikey stepped up his pace in the late rounds, switched back and forth to the lefthanded stance, and won by scores of 77-74, 76-75, 76-75...

On 8-2-08 in Las Vegas he won by TKO (8^th round, 0:24) against Jose Hernandez (11-6-1)...

On 6-26-08 in Las Vegas he won by TKO (4^th round, 1:15) against Jaesung Lee (9-1-1)...

On 5-17-08 in Aguascalientes, MX, he won by TKO (5^th round) against TKOd Robinson Castellanos (4-6)...

On 2-16-08 in Las Vegas he won by TKO (5^th round, 1:35) against Jorge Ruiz (5-3-1)...

2007 – on 9-20-07 in Calabasas, CA, he won a 6 round unanimous decision against Manuel Sarabia (16-20-8): scored 59-54, 58-55, 58-55...

On 7-13-07 in Chicago, IL, he won by knockout (3^rd round, 2:23) against Reggie Sanders (12-40-4)...

On 5-25-07 in Isleta, NM, he won by TKO (2^nd round, 2:45) against Carlos Zambrano (8-15-1)...

On 4-27-07 in Houston, TX, he won by TKO (2^nd round, 2:30) against Steve Trumble (12-21)...

On 3-9-07 in Hidalgo, TX, he won by TKO (2^nd round, 1:56) against Gabriel Rangel (2-0-1)...

On 1-19-07 in Phoenix, AZ, he won by TKO (2^nd round, 1:51) against Frank Martinez (7-9-2)...

2006 – on 12-8-06 in El Monte, CA, he won by knockout (1^st round, 2:18) against Baladin Trevizo (4-9-6)...

On 9-29-06 in Oxnard, CA, he won by knockout (2^nd round, 0:52) against Mario Franco (0-6-1)...

On 8-12-06 in Las Vegas he won by knockout (1^st round, 2:19) against Chad Ganigan (0-1)...

He debuted at the age of 18 on 7-14-06 in Montebello, CA, and won a 4 round unanimous decision against Domingo Mendoza (0-3)...

AMATEUR, PERSONAL BACKGROUND: Mikey said, “I was born in Ventura, California, but I was raised in Oxnard. My family lived in Oxnard, but Ventura is where the community hospital was - it’s the city next to Oxnard. I have two brothers and four sisters. We have Robert, and Daniel is the oldest. Daniel was a professional fighter, too. My dad, Eduardo Garcia, used to box in Mexico – it was just a couple of amateur exhibition shows. Nothing big – he just boxed a little bit there on small shows that they would do.

“When I was growing up, my mom and dad used to work in the strawberry fields in Oxnard. They did that for 20 years. I still remember them coming home from work with their work boots and work clothes red from all the strawberries. Then after that, my dad would go to the gym to work with my brother, Robert, and Fernando Vargas. Sometimes he would go straight to the gym from the strawberry fields, and he wouldn’t get home until late. I would always be at the La Colonia Gym in the evenings after school, just hanging out while by brother and my dad would train there.

"My dad started training Vargas, I think, at 10 years old. All through his amateur days, my dad was his trainer - through the Olympics, turned pro, world champion. The only fights that my dad was not in the corner with him as head trainer were his last couple of fights - it wasn't until after the de la Hoya fight fight that they brought in other trainers. For the Mosley fight my dad was in the corner, but as an assistant - he wrapped Fernando’s hands. I think for Fernando’s last fight against Mayorga, my dad came back as his head coach.

“When we were small, eight or nine years old, my dad taught us a few things about boxing, but just for fun and games, not really to compete.

“Since I was small, I just grew up with the sport – watching the fights on TV and watching my brother fight. It’s always been in the family. I never thought of the sport as a career – I just thought of it as just something I was interested in.

“I was 13 when I first did an exhibition. It was kind of like a sparring session. One of my nephews was actually doing the exhibition, and one of the kids from the gym didn’t have an opponent. So my brother told me to get in there and I said, ‘Okay.’ I hadn’t even been training, but I liked it. That’s when I started training on a regular basis to be a boxer and see if I could compete after that. Before that, I had never even been training in the gym. I would fool around with it sometimes in the backyard with my other nephews and cousins, but after the exhibition I started going to the gym. I started going to the amateur shows and I started winning and winning.

“My first amateur fight was at 14. I did, I think, 56 amateur fights. I think I had 10 losses total. My first tournament that I went into was the National Junior Olympics in Louisiana. I had 10 fights going into the tournament, and I advanced all the way to the finals. I lost in the finals – that was my first amateur loss. That was in 2003. A year later, I fought in the Junior Golden Gloves in Tennessee. I won the whole tournament. That same year, 2004, I fought in the National PAL in Virginia Beach. I brought a silver medal back. I won the gold medal at the 2005 National PAL – that was my biggest accomplishment. I beat some guys that were ranked over me.

“I graduated from Oxnard Community College in 2008. I got my AA – my associates degree. I also attended the Ventura County Police Reserve Academy. I graduated on January 9, 2010.

“I’m naturally righthanded. I moved to Moreno Valley about a year ago.”…

Mikey and his wife, Satima, have two children…

AMATEUR HIGHLIGHTS:

2005 NATIONAL PAL CHAMPIONSHIPS - Oxnard, California, 132 pounds - GOLD MEDALIST: in his first fight on 10-4-05 he won a 6-5 decision against Michael Evans of Dayton, Oh.; in his second fight on 10-5-05 he won an 11-3 decision against Isaac Suarez of Lansville, Penn.; in the quarterfinals on 10-6-05 he won a 10-8 decision against Michael Dallas of Bakersfield, Calif.; in the semifinals on 10-7-05 he won a 21-7 decision against Isaiah Williams-Windley of Akron, Oh.; in the finals on 10-9-05 he stopped Jorge Ceron of Doraville, Ga., in the 4^th round; Mikey won the tournament’s “Best Boxer” award...

2005 NATIONAL GOLDEN GLOVES CHAMPIONSHIPS - Little Rock, Arkansas, 132 pounds – BRONZE MEDALIST: in his first fight on 5-17-05 he stopped Michael Gonzalez of Toledo, Oh.; in his second fight on 5-18-05 he won a 3-2 decision against Ray Rivera of Kansas City, Mo.; in the quarterfinals on 5-19-05 he won a 5-0 decision against Danny Garcia of Philadelphia, Penn.; in the semifinals on 5-20-05 he lost a 3-2 decision against Diego Magdaleno of Las Vegas, Nev....

2004 NATIONAL PAL CHAMPIONSHIPS - Virginia Beach, Virginia, 132 pounds-junior division - SILVER MEDALIST: in the quarterfinals on 10-4-04 he stopped Joseph Llovet of Bayshore, N.Y., in the 2^nd round; in the semifinals on 10-6-04 he stopped Ke’ron Green of Norfolk, Va., in the 1^st round; in the finals on 10-7-04 he lost an 18-11 decision against Darnell Jiles of Rochester, N.Y....

2004 NATIONAL JUNIOR GOLDEN GLOVES CHAMPIONSHIPS - 132 pounds, Cadet Division  – GOLD MEDALIST...

2003 NATIONAL JUNIOR OLYMPIC CHAMPIONSHIPS - Alexandria, Louisiana, 125 pounds - SILVER MEDALIST: in his first fight on 6-17-03 he won on walkover against Dustin Williams of White Cove, Ariz.; in the quarterfinals on 6-18-03 he won a 5-0 decision against Joseph Francisco of Chattanooga, Tenn.; in the semifinals on 6-19-03 he won a 4-1 decision against Vernon Barrett of Detroit, Mich.; in the finals on 6-21-03 he lost a 3-2 decision against Michael Concepcion of E. Orange, N.J....

STRENGTHS: Has good skills, speed, and movement...a natural counterpuncher…has good punching power, punches in combinations...naturally athletic, is always in top condition…had a strong amateur background...has a very strong family boxing background...

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: 31 fights...146 total rounds...8 world championship rounds…

AVERAGE LENGTH OF BOUTS: 4.7 rounds...

KNOCKOUT PERCENTAGE: 83 %...

DISTANCE FIGHTS: 12 rounds – 0…11 rounds – 1 (1-0)…10 rounds – 2 (2-0)...