Highlights
–Elio Rojas used his jab and movement to outbox Mikey Garcia over the first two rounds, and landed a solid right hand late in Round 2.
–Garcia dropped Rojas midway through Round 3 with a left hand, and then floored him again 30 seconds later with a straight right.
–Garcia delivered a combination of punches in Round 5 that sent Rojas diving across the canvas, then finished him off seconds later with a potent left hook.
After 30 months without a fight, Mikey Garcia needed just two rounds before he started to look like his old self.
Garcia scored four knockdowns of former 126-pound champion Elio Rojas as he earned a fifth-round TKO in their 140-pound bout.
Garcia, a former world champion at 126 and 130 pounds, was competing for the first time since he decisioned Juan Carlos Burgos in January 2014 due to a prolonged legal battle with his former promoter.
Rojas was fighting for just the second time since losing a 126-pound title bout to Jhonny Gonzalez in April 2012, and for the first time since outpointing Robert Osiobe over eight rounds in August 2014.
Even so, the 33-year-old Dominican outboxed Garcia over the first two rounds, moving well as he worked mainly behind his jab.
Garcia, a 28-year-old Southern California native, began to find the range midway through Round 3 as he dropped Rojas with a right hand-left hook combination before again sending him to the canvas 30 seconds later with a straight right.
Rojas retaliated with some good shots over the next couple of rounds, but Garcia was seemingly unfazed as he continued his attack.
The end came in Round 5 as Garcia delivered a potent combination of punches that sent Rojas diving prone to the canvas, then finished him off seconds later with a solid left hook that sent Rojas backward and down.
Rojas rose to beat the count, but referee Eddie Claudio waved an end to the bout at the 2:02 mark.
It was the first time Rojas was stopped in his career.
Garcia improved to 6-0 with five KOs in his career against current or former world champions.
Mikey Garcia (left) proved too powerful for Elio Rojas with a fifth-round TKO Saturday night in their 140-pound bout in Brooklyn, New York. (Andy Samuelson/Premier Boxing Champions)
