Broner and Garcia are set to collide in a non title fight on July 29 at the Barclays Center in New York City, New York. Broner is coming off three straight wins since losing to Shawn Porter in 2015 while Garcia is unbeaten with 36 career fights to his credit.
In a press conference in Manhattan on Monday, Broner cannot hide his disappointment over a wide betting disparity favoring Garcia at 5-1 with more than a month to go before the fight.
“I don’t be gettin’ into this, the media and stuff like that,” Broner said. “But I heard that like they got Mikey like 5-to-1. You know what I’m saying? I just feel like you got some serious bettors out there, looking at that like, ‘5-to-1?’ They don’t give me no chance,” Broner said.
While Broner feels insulted about the prevailing betting odds favoring his foe, he needs to understand that Garcia in unbeaten in 36 career fights with 30 of those bouts coming by way of knockouts. Garcia is a known knockout artist with a KO rate is 67 percent.
Garcia is a highly-skilled boxer having been trained by his father early in his career after an impressive performance in his amateur stint where he amassed major awards and medals including a silver medal in the Junior Olympic Championships and a gold medal in the National Junior Golden Gloves Championships, among others.
Garcia is a three-weight world champion having won the WBO junior lightweight title in 2013, the WBO and Ring magazine featherweight titles and the WBC lightweight title in January 2017.
The 29-year-old orthodox fighter from Ventura, California, has fought a number of elite fighters including Orlando Salido and Juan Manuel Lopez, among others. His last two fights ended in knockouts inside five rounds.
Garcia comes from a family of boxers, his father being an amateur boxer and later a boxing trainer. His oldest brother was also a boxer and trainer while his other brother Roberto was a professional boxer and a former IBF Super Featherweight Champion and now a renowned boxing trainer of popular world champions.
Bettors usually look at the skill level of the contending parties as well as their fighting styles, experience and accomplishments.
Broner is great fighter but there is little doubt Garcia has a better credential when it comes to their skill levels and accomplishments.
While they both have the same number of career fights, Garcia has won all 36 pro fights while Broner lost two and one NC. On KO wins, Broner had 24 out of 36 while Garcia had 30 out of 36 fights.
While Broner pales a bit in comparison with Garcia in terms of their credentials, Broner can dispute Garcia’s claim that he would be as good as he has been in the ring even at the contracted weight of 140 pounds. Garcia admitted he performs best at 135.
“I still feel that 135 is probably the best division for me right now. My last performance at 135 I thought was great — fast, strong,” Garcia said. “But I don’t feel 140 will be much different. I think 140 will allow me to make weight a little more comfortably, and still keep my speed and my power,” Garcia said.
The betting odds could still change depending on the reviews as they go about their training leading up to the day of the fight but Broner is expected to remain the underdog as the fight draws near.
