Mikey Garcia hopes to fight three more times in 2014. Hopefully, those will be more entertaining than his bout with Juan Carlos Burgos on Saturday night at the Garden Theater.
Though staggered in the second round, Garcia made the first defense of his WBO super featherweight title a success with an easy unanimous decision over Burgos before a sellout crowd of 4,892.
Garcia of Oxnard, Calif., used his excellent boxing skills and ring generalship to comfortably out-point an overmatched Burgos, a native of Mexico. The Post scored the glorified sparring session 119-109 for Garcia, while the official judges had it 118-110, 118-110 and 119-109.
“It took a while to get used to his height and his range, but once I got my rhythm and range I just worked at my pace,” Garcia said of the lanky Burgos.
Garcia (34-0, 28 KOs) came into the fight heavily favored, but Burgos (30-2-2, 20 KOs) is a well-traveled veteran making his third attempt at a world title. After a competitive first round, Burgos landed the first huge punch of the bout, a thunderous left hook that landed flush on the champion’s chin.
Garcia’s legs buckled to the point at which he was in a seated position. But he was able to keep his balance and keep his gloves from touching the canvas. Burgos couldn’t react quickly enough to take advantage, but had earned some temporary respect.
Garcia regained control of the bout by mixing his jabs with hooks and a straight right. His arsenal kept Burgos backing up and on the defensive.
Burgos needed to get aggressive to slow Garcia’s attack. But he fought too cautiously, quickly bouncing away from trouble whenever the exchanges got heated. Garcia’s dilemma was figuring out how much risk he would take to score a knockout. He already had felt Burgos’ power and wasn’t eager to get caught with another big shot. So he picked his spots and stayed content with a game-plan that had him using his boxing skills to pile up points.
“I hurt him but he recovered well,” Burgos said. “He was prepared. He has a lot of ability. He’s fast and he’s strong. Luck was not with us tonight.”
In other bouts, heavyweight Bryant Jennings of Philadelphia remained unbeaten with a 10th round TKO of Arthur Szpilka of Poland. Bryant (18-0, 10 KOs) dropped Szpilka with a vicious left hook early in the 10th that dropped Szpilka into a seated position on the ropes. After an eight-count, Szpilka (16-1, 12 KOs) tried to continue, but Jennings hammered him when enough punches to force the referee to stop the bout.
Meanwhile, Sean Monaghan of Long Beach, N.Y., improved to 20-0 with 13 knockouts after scoring a first round TKO when his opponent Matt Vanda of Saint Paul, Minn., couldn’t continue after injuring his bicep.