WBA super featherweight champion Hector ‘El Androide’ Garcia 16-1 (10) is ready to put his loss to Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis 27-0 (25) behind him when he returns to the 130-pound weight class to defend his title against mandatory challenger Lamont Roach 23-1-1 (9) at the Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday night.
Back in January Garcia was drafted in to face the power-punching Davis at lightweight. It was an opportunity to good to refuse, even if it was outside his natural weight class. Garcia eventually lost by ninth-round knockout.
The lightly raced 32-year-old Dominican southpaw will get the chance to return to his winning ways against the 28-year-old Roach from Upper Marlboro, Maryland and prove he belongs amongst the upper echelon of players in the super featherweight division.
“I’ve had an amazing training camp in Las Vegas, training and sparring with the best in the world,” said Garcia, who will be boxing on the undercard of David Benavidez vs Demetrius Andrade Showtime pay-per-view card.
“I’m in tremendous shape and everything has come together for me during this training camp. My weight is right on point and I’m feeling strong.
“This is going to be a great fight for the fans because we both have something to prove and we are going to do whatever it takes to be victorious. Lamont Roach is very skilled in a lot of areas. He’s a technical fighter with a high ring IQ.
“I’ve been working extremely hard to be prepared for his style. He’s coming into this fight very hungry to become a world champion, but I’m not giving up my title. I’m going to leave everything in the ring on fight night!”
Garcia captured his world title with a one-sided unanimous decision over Roger ‘The Kid’ Gutierrez 27-5-1 (21) at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida in August 2022.
The Roach fight will be the first defence of his belt.
“Fighting at super featherweight is where I’m most dangerous,” Garcia said. “I captured the WBA title by beating the best in the division. Now I’m ready to defend my title against the number one ranked fighter in the WBA.”
There are some intriguing fights that could potentially be made for Garcia at 130-pounds, including unification bouts against WBO boss Emanuel ‘Vaquero’ Navarrete 38-1-1 (31), WBC kingpin O’Shaquie ‘Ice Water’ Foster 21-2 (12) and IBF chief Joe Cordina 17-0 (9). Robson ‘Nino’ Conceicao 17-2-1 (8) and Shavkatdzhon ‘Shere Khan’ Rakhimov 17-1-1 (14) would also make worthy challengers.
Garcia says he wants all the smoke.
“I’m going to show the world that I’m the best fighter at 130 pounds… my goal is to fight the biggest names in boxing,” Garcia said.
“A win against Roach will open up a tremendous amount of opportunities for me and my team.”
