Mikey Garcia’s foray into the welterweight division didn’t start out well, but he’s going to give it at least one more try when he takes on the bigger Jessie Vargas, who’s looking to get back to relevance in the division. On the line in this fight is the WBC Diamond Welterweight title.
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Betting Preview for the Jessie Vargas vs. Mikey Garcia WBC Welterweight Title Bout on February 29 2020
Where: Ford Center at The Star, Frisco, Texas
When: Saturday, February 29, 2020
Betting Line: Jessie Vargas (+450) vs. Mikey Garcia (-700)
Total Rounds: View odds
Betting on Jessie Vargas (+450)
Total fights: 33
Wins: 29
Wins by KO: 11
Losses: 2
Draws: 2
After figuring in two fights which resulted in draws against Adrien Broner and Thomas Dulorme, Vargas finally caught a break with a win over Humberto Soto last year in Inglewood. Vargas only took six rounds to stop the much-older Soto, but he can’t expect things to be as easy when he takes on Garcia, who’s much younger than the then-38-year-old Soto and clearly is still on his peak. Vargas, while listed as the big underdog in his upcoming fight, is not some fringe fighter selected to be a mere sacrificial lamb for Garcia. Vargas is a former WBA and IBO lightweight champion, with the belts coming from his win over Khabib Allakhverdiev. He also defeated Sadam Ali to win a WBO welterweight belt, but he lost it to Manny Pacquiao. Vargas will enter the ring on Saturday with the height and reach advantages over Garcia. Vargas is five inches taller than Garcia and his reach is three inches longer. With those physical edges, Vargas can fight from the distance and avoid or limit the impact of Garcia’s power punches.
Betting on Mikey Garcia (-700)
Total fights: 40
Wins: 39
Wins by KO: 30
Losses: 1
Draws: 0
Garcia is in a place he’s never been before. He’s never fought a fight coming off a loss, and we’ll see how he would rebound after suffering a unanimous-decision defeat at the hands of Errol Spence Jr. in March of last year. Spence is a tremendous talent, though, and would easily get the majority of the votes if there was a poll on who’s the more dangerous fighter between him and Vargas. In other words, Vargas is not on the same level of Spence, which should make life easier this time around for Garcia. That being said, Garcia can’t be too confident. It didn’t show in his welterweight debut against Spence, but Garcia possesses serious power in his punches. Garcia has 30 wins via knockouts. His power diminishes in the welterweight division and Vargas could handle it as well as Spence did, but Garcia is also a crafty fighter who can soften up his opponents with accurate hits for late-round knockout victories.
Writer’s Prediction
Garcia wins via unanimous decision.
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