LAS VEGAS – Elijah Garcia’s age has drawn a lot of attention within the boxing world over the past couple months.
The 19-year-old Garcia gave a great account of himself in his television debut March 4, when the strong southpaw knocked out previously undefeated middleweight contender Amilcar Vidal during the fourth round at Toyota Arena in Ontario, California. Garcia took that challenge against Uruguay’s Vidal in just his 14th professional fight and demonstrated that he at least has the potential to fulfill his dream of becoming a middleweight champion by the time he is “21 or 22” years old.
Kevin Salgado has dreams of his own, of course, as they prepare to square off in Showtime Pay-Per-View’s opener on the Gervonta Davis-Ryan Garcia undercard Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena. Salgado couldn’t care less about the buzz Garcia generated by knocking out Vidal last month in the opener of a “Showtime Championship Boxing” tripleheader.
“I don’t care about Elijah’s age,” Salgado said to a group of reporters Wednesday during an open workout at MGM Grand. “That’s really his deal. What I think, what I know, is that I’m gonna win.”
Garcia (14-0, 12 KOs), of Wittmann, Arizona, is listed by most oddsmakers as at least a 14-1 favorite over Mexico’s Salgado (15-1-1, 10 KOs). Salgado was outboxed by then-unbeaten Joey Spencer (16-1, 10 KOs) two fights ago and intends to atone for that 10-round, unanimous-decision defeat September 4 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
“I know that I’m going up against a really strong opponent,” Salgado said. “But I also know that we can shock the world and surprise some people. … Mexicans, sometimes when we fight, we may not be the favorites, but then we show our worth.”
The emerging Garcia won’t turn 20 until Wednesday. Salgado is still just 25 himself and knows he can change the course of his career by beating Garcia on this huge stage.
Salgado, a Mexico City native who resides in San Antonio, has mostly competed at or near the junior middleweight limit of 154 pounds. The younger brother of former IBF/WBA 130-pound champ Juan Carlos Salgado will battle Garcia at the middleweight maximum of 160 pounds.
“It’s gonna be a great fight,” Salgado said. “I know that Elijah is hungry, too. So am I. We’re gonna give it our best to please the fans on Saturday night.”
Garcia-Salgado will kick off a pay-per-view show scheduled to start at 8 p.m. EDT and 5 p.m. PDT. Baltimore’s Davis (28-0, 26 KOs) and Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs), of Victorville, California, will square off three fights later in the main event of a four-fight telecast that’ll cost $84.99 to purchase through www.sho.com, www.PPV.com or cable/satellite operators.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.