Mikey Garcia (39-0, 30 KOs) is hard at work training at the SNAC [Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning] facility in San Carlos, California in preparing for his fight against IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. (24-0, 21 KOs) on March 16 at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The SNAC training facility is helping Mikey with his boxing training to assist with improving his conditioning while at the same time helping him bulk up for his match with the unbeaten Spence. It would seem like an insurmountable task for the 31-year-old Garcia. He’s not only smaller and weaker than Spence, but he’s also older than him.
Thirty-one isn’t old for a fighter, but it’s still older than a fighter that is twenty-eight like Spence. Mikey had problems in the past when he fought a heavier fighter than himself in Orlando Salido. Mikey beat him, but he was struggling at the end and bowed out of the fight after he suffered a nose injury.
Mikey’s trainer Robert Garcia pulled him out after his nose was injured after a clash of heads. Fighters usually continue to fight when they suffer a broken nose, but Robert pulled him out of the fight. The tide of the fight had changed hands around the same time that Robert decided to pull Mikey out. Salido was starting to work Mikey over, and the outcome was no longer certain.
“I’m currently working out here at the SNAC facility and training,” Mikey said. “I’m excited about my upcoming fight [against Errol Spence]. It’s a big challenge. So that’s why we decided to start my camp here. Training out here can really help my strength and conditioning, my explosiveness and my speed; every little element that I think that I will need for my fight, It’s a big fight not just for the boxing world, but in general,” Mikey said.
It’s good that Mikey is trying everything he can to give himself a chance to win the fight, but it’s still an impossible task. Spence is so much naturally bigger and stronger than Mikey, and that’s the problem. Mikey can bulk up, but it’s not going to make him a solid 170+ pound fighter like Spence, who should be fighting at junior middleweight. Mikey used to train with Marcos Maidana years ago, but that guy wasn’t a natural welterweight. Maidana spent most of his career at 140. Spence would never make 140. He’s huge at welterweight. Garcia is going to need every advantage he can from his training at SNAC.
You’ve got a small guy at 135 moving up to 147, taking on the biggest challenge available,” Mikey said. “A lot of people can relate to you. You’re always brought up against obstacles and challenges in life. So you’ve got to overcome that, which is why I’m here. I have to overcome the challenges, and show everybody anything is possible,” Mikey said.