LOS ANGELES — Mikey Garcia (39-0, 30 KOs) had little trouble dealing with the height and reach of Robert Easter Jr. (21-1, 14 KOs) and cruised to a 12-round unanimous decision Saturday, unifying his WBC lightweight title with Easter's IBF title. The 30-year-old once again proved his pound-for-pound status is well-deserved with a dominant performance in front of 12,560 pro-Garcia fans at Staples Center.
Afterward, Garcia threw down the gauntlet and challenged welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. to a fight later this year.
Garcia used his precision power punching and ring generalship to control the fight. It was expected that Easter would seek to put Garcia on the end of his jab; however, Garcia methodically walked Easter down and repeatedly pinned him on the ropes. Without an exit strategy, Easter was resigned to eat power shots from his Mexican-American opponent. What started as a competitive battle changed drastically when Garcia unloaded a thudding left hook that sent Easter careening to the canvas. Easter was hurt badly and spent the middle rounds trying to fight off Garcia rather than fight him.
Easter caught a second wind in the later rounds, including a thrilling ninth round where both fighters exchanged heavy leather. It looked as though Easter briefly stunned Garcia with a left hand but Garcia roared right back with yet another devastating salvo of power shots that put Easter on his bicycle.
After 12 rounds, the judges saw the fight in Garcia's favor with scores of 116-111, 117-110 and 118-109.
A full report is still to come . . .
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Sporting News provided live round-by-coverage and scoring of Mikey Garcia vs. Robert Easter Jr. (all times Eastern).
Garcia vs. Easter fight results
Mikey Garcia (38-0, 30 KOs) vs. Robert Easter Jr. (21-0, 14 KOs); WBC/IBF lightweight title unification
RESULT: Mikey Garcia def. Robert Easter Jr. via unanimous decision (116-111, 117-110, 118-109).
Round 12: For as dominant a performance that Mikey Garcia put on, Easter should be commended for his guts. He was overmatched but did his best to fight back and never checked out. The final round echoed the rest, and Garcia should earn a wide unanimous decision. 10-9, Garcia (119-108, Garcia).
Round 11: Not sure what else needs to be said. Wash, rinse and repeat. Easter gets trapped on the ropes and Garcia hovers and picks his shots. 10-9, Garcia (109-99, Garcia).
Round 10: The Easter section of the crowd is struggling to watch as Garcia continues to waltz in and pummel Easter. Easter is incredibly game but clearly overmatched without a plan B. 10-9, Garcia (99-90, Garcia).
Round 9: Something woke up Easter; he landed a huge left hand and followed with a salvo of punches. Garcia was ready for war, though, and came right back with thunderous power shots. A left hook to the body from Garcia nearly took all of the steam out of Easter's assault. Thrilling round, but yet another one for Garcia. 10-9, Garcia (89-81, Garcia).
Round 8: Garcia has Easter on his bicycle even though it is clear that Easter needs a knockout to win the fight. Not a lot of action but very, very little from Easter makes this a Garcia round. 10-9, Garcia (79-72, Garcia).
Round 7: Garcia slowly makes his approach and walks into a huge uppercut from Easter. Best punch from Easter but Garcia doesn't blink. He follows with a three-punch combination that moved Easter around the ring. Close round but Garcia takes another one. 10-9, Garcia (69-63, Garcia).
Round 6: Easter is quietly having a great round by pumping the jab and landing to the body. That is, until Garcia once again traps Easter on the ropes and lands the left hook that worked for him earlier in the night. Close round until Garcia steamrolls through the final 30 seconds. 10-9, Garcia (59-54, Garcia).
Round 5: Easter is offering little resistance. Nothing he has landed has forced Garcia to reconsider his approach. It's becoming one-way traffic as Garcia continues to land the left hook. There's a moment where Garcia lands a scintillating uppercut that nearly lifts Easter off his feet. Tough sledding. 10-9, Garcia (49-45, Garcia).
Round 4: Easter looks like a man lost. He is clearly confused by Garcia's ability to find a home for his punches even though Easter's gloves are up. Garcia has little to worry about coming in and lands several huge combinations, including a brutal left hook that wraps right around Easter's gloves and hurts him. 10-9, Garcia (39-36, Garcia).
Round 3: It's like watching a snake slowly devour a mouse as Garcia methodically closes the distance to the point where Easter has nowhere to go. Some exchanges along the ropes get Easter's attention until Garcia unloads a huge left hook that drops Easter. Easter survives the round but is clearly hurt. 10-8, Garcia (29-27, Garcia).
Round 2: Garcia manages to slither inside and lands a hard right hand that gets Easter's attention. The distance that Easter had before is gone and Garcia stays in puncher's range. Lands a crisp combination to take the round. 10-9, Garcia (19-19).
Round 1: Easter is pumping the jab and using his length to keep Garcia at bay. Not landing, but active. Garcia taking his time but eats a left hand. He responds with one of his own. Easter looks good early and is controlling the distance. It'll be interesting to see how long he can keep that up. 10-9, Easter (10-9, Easter).
Luis Ortiz (29-1, 25 KOs) vs. Razvan Cojanu (16-4, 9 KOs); heavyweights
RESULT: Luis Ortiz def. Razvan Cojanu via second-round TKO.
Round 2: After all of that posturing by Cojanu, Ortiz finally lands a clean straight left hand that disintegrates Cojanu's equilibrium. Try as he might to get to his feet, his legs refuse to comply and the fight is halted. Big victory for Ortiz, which puts him right back into the mix for a heavyweight title shot.
Round 1: The usual feeling-out round. Ortiz is pawing with the jab and occasionally launching a power shot. Cojanu does little more than play to the crowd whenever he's hit. 10-9, Ortiz (10-9, Ortiz).
Mario Barrios (22-0, 14 KOs) vs. Jose Roman (24-3-1, 16 KOs); junior welterweights
RESULT: Mario Barrios def. Jose Roman via eighth-round TKO.
Roman's corner has seen its fighter take enough punishment for one night and decides to keep him on the stool between rounds. Barrios with the TKO victory in a dominant performance.
Round 8: Barrios throttles Roman and sends him down again midway through the round. It's clear that Roman has nothing left to offer. The body shots from Barrios are a lot for Roman to handle. There's really no reason for this to continue. 10-8, Barrios (80-70, Barrios).
Round 7: Barrios is landing crisp combinations and Roman can do little more than just absorb the punishment. He's trying to fight back but Barrios is simply too big and too strong. 10-9, Barrios (70-62, Barrios).
Round 6: It's one-way traffic for Barrios. Roman has no answers and Barrios continues to walk him down. 10-9, Barrios (60-53, Barrios).
Round 5: More of the same from Barrios. Roman simply isn't strong enough to keep Barrios off him. There were questions surrounding Barrios' ability when he faced someone the same size as him. He's handling this with ease. 10-9, Barrios (50-44, Barrios).
Round 4: Barrios has realized that Roman has little to offer and begins to let his hands go. A barrage of punches plants Roman on the canvas. It's not looking good for Roman as he eats a thunderous left hook as the round closes. 10-8, Barrios (40-35, Barrios).
Round 3: Very tough crowd here at Staples Center. It isn't impressed with either fighter, although Barrios is putting in good work. Some decent exchanges but this crowd wants blood. 10-9, Barrios (30-27, Barrios).
Round 2: Still not a whole lot of action but Barrios is clearly the aggressor and scoring to the body. Roman is trying to pick his spots to counter but not finding a lot of opportunities. 10-9, Barrios (20-18, Barrios).
Round 1: Barrios controlling the pace with a measured approach and landing to the body early. Roman isn't able to make him respect his power. Could be a long night. 10-9, Barrios (10-9, Barrios).
OTHER NOTES:
11:38 p.m.: A huge ovation for Mikey Garcia as he makes his walk to the ring. Great energy here tonight.
11:35 p.m.: Robert Easter Jr. heading to the ring to a chorus of boos. It's the first time in seven years that Garcia has fought in California so he's going to have the hometown support.
11:23 p.m.: They are showing some of the attendees on the big screen. Victor Ortiz and Adrien Broner were booed viciously by the Staples Center crowd. Shawn Porter and Errol Spence Jr. got a huge pop from the crowd. Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers is also in attendance.
11:17 p.m.: Multiple replays are shown of Luis Ortiz annihilating Razvan Cojanu. It looks worse and worse from every angle. There's obviously interest in a Wilder rematch but there's also intrigue as to how Ortiz would do against Anthony Joshua.
10:52 p.m.: Amir Khan and Abner Mares are spotted ringside shortly after Mario Barrios' dominant performance against Jose Roman. Hard to tell if he was impressed with Pacquiao's performance a few weeks ago, but that's a fight he clearly still wants.
9:54 p.m.: The live broadcast is getting ready to start and it's a pretty full house here at Staples Center.
9:08 p.m.: The younger brother of Marcos Maidana, Fabian, is in the middle of a relatively uneventful 10-round bout with Andrey Klimov. There's a smattering of boos from the crowd. You have to wonder how many people are aware that the undefeated Maidana is part of a boxing family. By the way, he's winning the fight. Speaking of family members, Tony Rock, younger brother of Chris Rock, has just taken his seat ringside. Just as that's written, Maidana drops Klimov with seconds left in the seventh round to earn the TKO. Maidana improves to 16-0 with 12 knockouts.
7:30 p.m.: Sporting News is in the building. Upon our arrival, Leo Santa Cruz was spotted walking up to Staples Center. It didn't take long for people to recognize him and ask for autographs. It's said that there will be a house full of celebrities and athletes on hand to see Mikey Garcia and Robert Easter throw down.
11 a.m.: Mikey Garcia and Robert Easter. Jr will duke it out to see who really is the best lightweight in the world from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. SN will provide coverage throughout the day and will be ringside for all the action.
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Garcia vs. Easter fight card
- Mikey Garcia vs. Robert Easter Jr. in WBC/IBF a lightweight title unification fight
- Luis Ortiz vs. Razvan Cojanu; heavyweights
- Mario Barrios vs. Jose Roman; junior welterweights
Garcia vs. Easter latest news
— Garcia explains to SN why he wants to be "The People's Champ".
— Garcia also tells SN why he needs to fight Errol Spence Jr. to be great.
— Easter tells SN he wants to scratch Garcia off the pound-for-pound lists.
— What is Easter looking for against Garcia?
— SN explains why Garcia is the most wanted man in boxing.
— Here is how you can watch Garcia vs. Easter.
