A willingness to sway in the direction of arduous challenges and in the opposite direction of them has become a calling card of sorts for four-division champion Mikey Garcia in the second chapter of his career. 

Entering his absolute prime at age 30, Garcia (38-0, 30 KOs) isn't so much focused on money in terms of how he navigates his career -- which is why he remains a promotional free agent despite multiple offers -- but instead on seeking fights that will support his goal of becoming the pound-for-pound best in the sport. 

Garcia, who earlier this year chose to keep his WBC lightweight title and vacate the IBF 140-pound belt he won in March from Sergey Lipinets, has an ambitious plan for his immediate future which includes moving up to two divisions to challenge Errol Spence Jr. and coming back down to meet P4P king Vasiliy Lomachenko at 135 pounds. 

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Before Garcia has any chance of getting there, however, he must first win a fight on Saturday against IBF champion Robert Easter Jr. (21-0, 14 KOs) in their lightweight unification bout in Los Angeles (Showtime, 10 p.m. ET) that is anything but an easy stopover on the way. 

Easter, 27, is the exact sort of trap opponent that most champions would prefer avoid than go out of their way to challenge. The native of Toledo, Ohio, is also not lacking for confidence and has said repeatedly in recent weeks that he believes Garcia to be easy work and an easy win.

"That's terrific because that shows confidence on his end and tells me he is going to come in strong, looking for the win," Garcia told CBS Sports during a recent appearance on the "In This Corner" podcast. "It only means we are going to have a great matchup and a great, exciting fight for the fans. That's what I'm here to do. 

"I don't want to have any excuses. I don't want anybody to come in the ring and say that they weren't ready or weren't motivated or whatever. I want the best Robert Easter available and that's what I expect on fight night." 

Part of what makes Easter such a threat to Garcia is his advantage in speed and athleticism. But when you combine that with the fact Easter holds a five-inch height and a staggering eight-inch reach advantage over Garcia, this becomes an even more interesting fight. 

"I know Easter is very tall and has a longer reach than me," Garcia said. "In the gym, we've been working on sparring partners who present different challenges and made adjustments from there. I have to catch him reaching in or put pressure and work my way inside. There are different things that I'm capable of doing."

Garcia said he chose to give up his 140-pound title and stay at lightweight due to the larger amount of big names available as opponents. But he can only laugh asked whether the decision was made because of how difficult his junior welterweight title bout with Lipinets became. 

Showtime boxing odds

FavoriteUnderdogWeightclass

Mikey Garcia (c) -1000

Robert Easter Jr. (c) +600

Lightweight titles

Luis Ortiz -10000

Razvan Cojanu +1600

Heavyweight

Mario Barrios -1250

Jose Roman +800

Super lightweight

"If people don't believe me, that's fine by me because I will show them that I'm a better fighter every fight and won't lose," Garcia said. "The big fights will always bring the best out of me. I don't know where they would think that I was exposed. You get hit a few times; we are in a fight and [Lipinets] is an undefeated champion. He didn't want to let that belt go easy and he fought back." 

Even though Garcia won the fight by clear decision, some questioned in the aftermath whether 140 pounds presented a ceiling for Garcia in which his power didn't translate as well as the lower weight classes. The determined Lipinets pressured and hit Garcia more often than most have become accustomed to see in what was, at various points, a grueling two-way fight. 

"The moment that I dropped him, we both exchanged hooks and he connected with a left hook on the temple of my head and as I'm walking away, I look back and he's getting up and I'm thinking, 'Man, I'm lucky that I dropped him because he landed a good shot,'" Garcia said. "Actually, I felt the power and felt the shot. I didn't show any signs of being hurt or worrying but you do have to respect the power. I fought still smart and careful and patiently but that was a hard shot that he landed." 

Easter, who captured his vacant title in 2016 during a thrilling split-decision win over Richard Commey, also enters the fight with some doubting his most recent performance. After a run of fights in which Easter appeared to be on his way to the top of the division, he appeared a step slow in January against Javier Fortuna and came away with a split decision many believed he didn't deserve. 

"I don't think he lost. I thought it was a tough fight for Easter but Fortuna is a very complicated opponent also," Garcia said. "It's difficult to look good and look spectacular against Fortuna. He's a little awkward and a little different. Easter had a tough fight but he overcame the challenges and overcame the rounds and came out still winning the fight. I still thought he won and I'm sure he learned from that and that's only going to make him a better fighter." 

Easter is hoping to surprise anyone too focused on judging him off his most recent outings.

"People are paying attention to my last couple of fights when I wasn't using my height and reach," said Easter. "I can improve on that by taking it back to what I had been doing before. I was knocking people out fight after fight. If you're looking at just my last two fights, you aren't giving me credit for everything I bring to the table. I faced two tough southpaws recently but on July 28 I'm going to show everyone what they've been sleeping on and why I'm a world champion."

Prediction

While Easter certainly presents a difficult puzzle for Garcia to solve, there's a reason why Garcia is rated among the very best P4P fighters in the sport. Not only is Garcia incredibly sound from a technical standpoint, he's among the most accurate and powerful counter punchers in the division. 

For Garcia to land his shots, however, he's going to have to get underneath Easter's reach, and doing so could leave him open early on to big shots. It's a reality helped by the fact that Garcia is so responsible defensively and rarely finds himself out of position. It's also helped by the fact that Easter doesn't always use his jab enough to control distance. 

Even though Fortuna employs a much more awkward style than Garcia, he faced the same size deficiencies against Easter and routinely had success taking the lead and lowering Easter's output with activity. In that regard, Garcia's jab will be key to setting up his big shots. 

Prediction: Garcia by UD12.