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Mike Garcia vs. Robert Easter Jr. Two undefeated boxers. Two lightweight world champions. One unification bout. It all goes down Saturday night at Staples Center in what is certainly one of the most anticipated fights of the year.
The fight will be televised nationally on Showtime, with the broadcast starting at 10 p.m. ET. Garcia vs Easter is scheduled as the third fight on the broadcast, after Mario Barrios vs Jose Roman and Luis Ortiz vs Razvan Cojanu.
Even if you don’t have cable or can’t get to a TV, you can watch a live stream of the fight (or DVR it) on your computer, phone or streaming device by signing up for a free trial of one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services.
If you have Amazon Prime or want to start a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime, you can watch all Showtime content through the Showtime Amazon Channel, which also comes with a free 7-day trial.
Once you’re signed up for both Amazon Prime and the Showtime channel, you can then watch a live stream of Garcia vs Easter on your computer via the Amazon website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Amazon Video app.
Showtime can be added to your existing FuboTV subscription, or you can include Showtime when you start a free 7-day trial.
Once signed up, you can then watch a live stream of the fight on your computer via Fubo’s website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the FuboTV app.
If you can’t watch live, FuboTV also comes with 30 hours of Cloud DVR (with the ability to upgrade to 500 hours), as well as a “72-Hour Lookback” feature, which allows you to watch most events up to three days after they air even if you forgot to record them.
Whether you already have Hulu or you want to sign up for a new subscription, Showtime is available as an add-on to Hulu or Hulu with Live TV.
Once signed up for Hulu and the Showtime add-on, you can watch a live stream of the fight on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Hulu app.
If you can’t watch live, “Hulu with Live TV” also comes with 50 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of DVR space and the ability to fast forward through commercials).
Preview
After moving up to super lightweight and defeating Adrien Broner and Sergey Lipinets to capture a world title at a fourth different weight class, Garcia (38-0, 30 KO’s) is set to make the move back down to 135 pounds. It’s a somewhat rare move to drop back down in weight after having success at a heavier division, but Garcia isn’t shying away from the challenge.
And if he looks anything like he did in his last fight at lightweight, which ended via an absolutely devastating KO of Dejan Zlaticanin to win the WBC title, he’ll be just fine:
Easter (21-0, 14 KO’s), meanwhile, won the IBF world lightweight title with a narrow split decision over Richard Commey two years ago and has defended his belt three times since: He beat Luis Cruz via unanimous decision in February 2017, defeated Denis Shafikov via unanimous decision in June 2017 and got past Javier Fortuna via split decision in January.
Those weren’t the most dominant performances, but the 27-year-old did what he needed to survive. And now he gets the biggest fight of his career.
“I believe this fight is what boxing deserves — champion versus champion,” Easter said. “I’m no stranger to tough fights. This is going to define my career and make the best out of me, fighting another best great fighter.”
There’s no downplaying the importance of this fight. Not only is this a unification bout, but the result could shape the upcoming plans for Vasyl Lomachenko, the WBA lightweight title holder and arguably boxing’s current pound-for-pound champ.
Throw in the compelling stylistic nature of the matchup–Garcia’s power vs Easter’s reach–and you have what shapes up as potentially one of the best fights of 2018.
In the two other televised fights, Mario Barrios (21-0, 13 KO’s) takes on Jose Roman (23-2-1, 16 KO’s) in a 10-round super lightweight bout, and Luis Ortiz (28-1, 24 KO’s) battles Razvan Cojanu (16-3, 9 KO’s) in a 10-round heavyweight matchup.