Eridson Garcia reached a point where he simply wanted a challenge befitting his talent.
The demand came at the expense of ring activity, as the unbeaten Dominican has not fought in nearly a full year. That stretch ends when he faces streaking prospect Jordan White (14-1, 10KOs) atop Showtime’s ShoBox tripleheader this Friday from Wind Creek Events Center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
The opportunity awaiting him this weekend, he feels, was worth the sacrifice.
“I was inactive for a year because I was waiting for the right opportunity,” Garcia said of this weekend’s main event. “I wanted a meaningful fight, not just a stay busy fight. I turned down some fights because I wanted to fight on television.
“I was patient and here I am, ready to show the world who I am.”
Garcia (17-0, 11KOs) has fought largely in the greater Houston area after having fought exclusively in his Dominican Republic homeland. The 29-year-old southpaw has shown promise but his resume lacks name recognition and notoriety.
There now exists to change all of that.
D.C.s’ White has won ten straight, including a sixth-round knockout of unbeaten Misael Lopez in a March 2021 ShoBox appearance. The greater level of competition is enough to sway the oddmakers—Garcia enters with the glossier record but viewed as a +175 underdog by bet365 sportsbook, who lists White as a -225 favorite.
That is precisely what gets Garcia out of bed—and in the ring.
“This means a lot to me. I’ve been trying to get on television for a while,” noted Garcia, whose last win came in a seventh-round knockout last August 13 in Houston. “This opportunity really motivates me and it pushes me to put on a memorable performance tomorrow night.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox