On June 28 Vaughn Jackson told me that he believed Mike Jones would knock out Irving Garcia by the fifth round, which is exactly what he did. Is Vaughn Jackson psychic? Or does he simply know how hungry his fighter is for that chance at a world title? After the fight, Mike said, “It is my time to shine.” It is clear that Mike has every intention to shine on the world stage.

Irving Garcia was just one more in the way of that dream. So before the crowd in Boardwalk Hall and those watching on Showtime, Mike knew exactly what he had to do. An impressive showing by Mike could be all that it would take to line up that title shot.

So a lot of people were scratching their heads in the first round. Mike was hardly throwing any punches, just sticking his jab out there. Although Garcia wasn’t impressing anyone either, he was outworking Mike. The crowd, mostly Mike’s fans, were growing restless. They were yelling to him, telling him to hit, reminding him that he was on Showtime. Near the end of the round, Mike landed one meaningful punch.

Mike picked up the pace in the second round. He was letting his hands fly. He was using the jab, and starting to follow with the right. Garcia, however, countered many of Mike’s punches. When Mike would open up to throw his right, he was getting hit. Garcia seemed as though he might be poised to steal the round. Then late in the round, Mike was able to land several punches, taking back control of the round.

Garcia, however, appeared to be gaining confidence through the first two rounds. Early in round three, Garcia landed a hard shot to Mike’s head. Mike shook it off and kept coming forward. Then Garcia landed a left hook, again to the head. Mike never backed off. He was able to stun Garcia. Mike has always been a fighter that looked for those opportunities to finish off an opponent. When he saw Garcia was stunned, he turned up the pressure. Mike finished the round strong.

But it was still not a done deal for Mike Jones. Garcia came out in round four and was battering Mike early in the round. Mike turned up the pressure, started to throw more combinations, and gave Garcia little chance to respond. Garcia threw a punch after the bell. Mike responded with one of his own.

All of this seemed to energize Mike. He came out in the fifth and put Garcia against the ropes early. Garcia was able to work his way out the first time. However, Mike just put him right back. This time Mike didn’t let up. He was hitting him with combinations. There seemed to be little that Garcia could do, except try to let the ropes absorb some of the punches. He was stuck against the ropes, and Mike kept battering him, waiting for him to go down. Garcia did go down with a punch that landed below the belt line. He stayed down. Referee Randy Neumann counted him out. Although Garcia’s corner protested the KO, Neumann declared the fight over at 1:22.

Although some of Mike’s fans might have been worried, he did not seem as though he was worried at any point in the fight. He told the media after the fight that he could see Garcia’s right coming every time, and that he had no real problems offensively. He did admit that Garcia had a good jab. Of his own jab, he said, “I didn’t think I could get him with the jab that easily…. I started throwing them because it was working. My plan was to start following them with my right hands.”

As for the future of Mike Jones, he said that he wants to fight someone in the top ten. If not Andre Berto, the name Abregu was thrown around by reporters and members of Mike’s team. But when the name Shamone Alvarez was thrown out there, Mike stated again that he was only going to fight those in the top ten. It was then that he said that it was his time to shine.