On July 28th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, two lightweight champions will unify half of boxing’s four major belts, as WBC titleholder Mikey Garcia (38-0, 30 KOs) takes on the tall and thinly-framed IBF champ Robert Easter Jr (21-0, 14 KOs).
This is Garcia’s first defense of the WBC title he won last year, when he viciously KO’d Dejan Zlaticanin. Easter has defended his belt successfully thrice, although his win over Javier Fortuna was a controversial decision, and Fortuna also didn’t make weight, so the belt was never at stake for Fortuna. Nevertheless, it’s a big fight for both men, and Garcia is seeking real strong matchups down the line, including a potential move up to welterweight to take on Errol Spence Jr.