The Shobox weekend finished with a pair of dominant showings by Mikey Garcia and Kiryl Relikh. In the double feature opener Kiryl Relikh faced Rances Barthelemy in a rematch of their questionably scored first fight in May of last year. In their first fight Barthelemy walked away with a win that many thought he did not deserve and in fact was so contentious that a rematch was mandated by the sanctioning body. This time around Relikh didn't give the judges any choice but to award him a wide decision. Barthelemy had no answers and spent most of the fight backpedaling occasionally mounting brief offensive bursts punctuated with numerous low blows. Relikh was active and accurate throwing over 1000 punches in the fight showcasing good combinations and varying up his speed to give Rances issues all night. Relikh was impressive and showed a deeper skill set in this fight compared to the first meeting. On the other side of the ring Barthelemy just looked flat and uncomfortable all night and he ended up being throughly outclassed. Rances looks to be on his way out during the fight the announcers mentioned he had contemplated retirement before feeling renewed during this camp. If this was a renewed Rances fighting then it seems like retirement might be the right choice for him. Relikh looks like a real up and comer he fought like a hungry contender looking to prove a point and he certainly did against Rances. Keep your eyes on Kiryl Relikh I think he's a fighter with a lot of upside.
The main event saw Mikey Garcia moving up yet again and looking for a title at 140, specifically the title held by Sergey Lipinets. Winning this title would put Garcia in the company of Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez who had also won titles in 4 different weight divisions. The fight started out a little tentative with both fighters wary of getting caught. The pace quickly changed once Garcia began to open up and Sergey threw with him. Garcia was on point all night with the jab- right hand combination. He found Sergey easy to hit all night and Sergey made it easy for Mikey by keeping his left hand low and simply ducking slightly to his right any time Mikey hit him with a jab. It was Garcias left hook however that gave him a knockdown in the fight, thrown as a counter to a lazy uppercut from Sergey. Garcia was able to put a beating on Sergey all night but he couldn't put him away, Lipinets showed tremendous heart and a stiff chin but he couldn't span the gap in skill. Sergey had some success when he threw with Garcia. He did get up from a hard knock down and recovered to close the fight with a strong showing in the final round. Garcia did as expected though and was just too good a technician for Sergey to deal with. Lipinets showed a lack of adaptability in the fight and didn't change anything he was doing despite being soundly beaten. Garcia showed that he has enough power at 140 to give fighters in that division problems en route to his wide unanimous decision victory, Lipinets has a pretty iron chin and had never been down as a pro before this fight. With the win Garcia now holds part of the 140 lb title but he may not be staying around long. In the prefight interviews his brother and trainer Robert Garcia voiced his opinion that Mikey's best weight is 135 and he may be headed back down there in his next fight. Whatever the weight maybe one thing is certain; Mikey Garcia is one of the best boxers fighting right now.
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