Hector Luis Garcia considers his lone loss an aberration.
Ten months after his ninth-round, technical-knockout defeat to Gervonta Davis, the Dominican southpaw plans to prove that he is a much more formidable fighter than he showed that night against one of boxing’s most dangerous knockout artists. Davis rocked Garcia with a left hand late in the eighth round, which helped give Garcia the blurry vision that prevented him from answering the bell to start the ninth round January 7 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
Garcia (16-1, 10 KOs, 3 NC) will fight for the first time Saturday night since Davis defeated him.
He’ll make a mandated defense of his WBA super featherweight title against Lamont Roach (23-1-1, 9 KOs). The 12-round, 130-pound championship clash between Garcia, 32, and Roach, 28, will open Showtime Pay-Per-View’s four-fight telecast from Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino’s Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas (8 p.m. ET; 5 p.m. PT; $74.99).
FanDuel sportsbook has established Garcia as almost a 4-1 favorite to beat Roach, who has won four fights in a row. Garcia expects a convincing victory over Roach to help him regain some of the momentum he had before he temporarily moved up to the lightweight division to challenge Baltimore’s Davis (29-0, 27 KOs).
“They’re gonna say, ‘There goes the defending champion, the guy that went out there and successfully defended his throne at 130 pounds,’ ” Garcia said through his translator during a virtual press conference recently. “And, more than anything, I’m gonna prove that what happened against Gervonta Davis was a fluke and that it’s never gonna happen again. No excuses.”
Roach, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, is confident that he is the best opponent of Garcia’s career other than Davis. Garcia contended during the abovementioned virtual press conference that his two most recent conquests, former 130-pound champions Chris Colbert (17-1, 6 KOs) and Roger Gutierrez (27-5-1, 21 KOs), are both better fighters than Roach.
Regardless, Roach reminded Garcia of what he said.
“I like that – no excuse,” Roach said. “That’s what I like to hear. I’m not tryna hear anything. He won’t hear anything from me, either. It’s no excuse on this end. That’s the name of my gym, No Excuse. So, I like that.”
Garcia-Roach will be one of three bouts broadcast before David Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs) will defend his WBC interim super middleweight title against Demetrius Andrade (32-0, 19 KOs) in the 12-round main event.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.