IBF lightweight champion Robert Easter Jr. said he's ready to face Mikey Garcia and believes he has the tools to dethrone the WBC lightweight champion.
In a conference call in which Fightful took part in, Easter talked about his fight against Garcia on July 28. Easter, who has held the IBF title since 2016, has fought the likes of Richard Commey and Javier Fortuna and said while this fight against Garcia is important, he's not too concerned with calling this the biggest fight of his career. Easter said he calls every fight he is in a big one since he's putting his life on the line in every boxing match.
"I look at every fight like it’s big. Of course, with this fight being against another champion, it is big, but we trained hard for every fight against every opponent. We don’t favor one opponent over the other. Every fight is big and [every time] I step into the ring I put my life on the line," Easter said.
The 27-year-old Easter added that his height advantage, adding that "my height, my speed, my power and my ability to box [will be the difference maker on July 28]." Easter is currently the longest-reigning lightweight world champion, but he will be fighting in his first world title unification.
Fightful will have live coverage of Garcia vs. Easter, which will headline a Showtime Championship Boxing at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. That card will also feature the return of Luis Ortiz, who is fighting for the first time since losing to WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder back in March.
Easter spoke with Fightful several weeks ago where he spoke on his expectations of the fight and wanting to fight WBA lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko down the road.
