Hit too much for comfort early on, 19-year-old rising middleweight talent Elijah Garcia showed his power en route to a R4 stoppage win over Amical Vidal during an entertaining battle between two unbeaten prospects Saturday night. With world champion aspirations by the time he’s 21-22, he and father George have spotted a prospective opponent – one they shared a dressing room with.
Garcia namechecks Resendiz, after both win
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Jose Armando Resendiz (14-1, 10 KOs) earned a new career-best win on Saturday, outboxing former unified light-middleweight world champion Jarrett Hurd en route to a R10 KO after a severe lip laceration saw the 32-year-old unable to continue.
The 24-year-old Mexican contender, nicknamed Toro, made sure to call out WBC champion Jermall Charlo after an impressive stock-building win.
Speaking of that, Elijah Garcia did the same on his televised debut prior after overcoming some adversity in the early rounds to stop a fellow unbeaten prospect – Uruguay’s Amical Vidal (16-1, 12 KOs) – in the fourth.
The 19-year-old, and his father George – who doubles up as his head trainer – publicly voiced their opinion Resendiz will be a future opponent down the line, having sized him up in the same dressing room.
During a post-fight press conference (h/t: BoxingScene.com), George said:
“He was in our dressing room and I’m thinking, ‘We’re probably gonna fight this guy one of these days. But you know, that’d be a good fight – like I said, it’s up to the team.
Usually, me and my dad are the ones that make the main decisions but yeah, we’re in the room and I’m thinking ‘Damn, this guy’s probably gonna win and we’re gonna have to fight him.”
He drew parallels between that and watching Vidal earn a majority decision win over Immanuwel Aleem back in July 2021, telling his son to be mindful that matchup could be made soon. 20 months later, it materialised with a decisive outcome.
Elijah’s latest win saw him snatch Vidal’s WBC Latino middleweight title, one the 27-year-old had successfully defended three times, and as such, he will likely feature in the sanctioning body’s top 15 at 160lbs.
Putting things into perspective
BoxRec has Garcia ranked as the world’s #17 best middleweight, narrowly behind a British trio – Denzel Bentley (14), Hamzah Sheeraz (15) and Kieron Conway (16)
Bentley, who came up short in a competitive WBO world title effort on short-notice against Janibek Alimkhanuly in November, returns next month
Vidal was ranked #9 before entering the ring at the weekend, having previously scored four stoppage wins over unbeaten boxers in his career.
Elijah’s right hook rocked Vidal and he saw the finish in sight, despite being repeatedly beaten to the punch early on while showing a few defensive tendencies that better opponents would exploit.
With that in mind, it’s not surprising George had this to say about his son:
“He’s got a lot to learn. You know, we can’t take a fight like that all the time, we’ve gotta get fights that are gonna help him learn and progress, get better as a professional fighter. As he turns 20, 21, 22, I think he’ll get a little bit stronger. He’s getting smarter in the ring every time and that’s where we’re at.”
Picture source: Esther Lin / Showtime Boxing
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