Loaded Agenda: Everybody has one on Top Rank card full of high stakes

Affirmation and reclamation are on a loaded card Saturday night that is intriguing on several levels. There’s much to prove for Mikey Garcia, Nonito Donaire, Vic Darchinyan and even trainer Robert Garcia in Corpus Christi, Tex.

For Mikey Garcia, there’s the chance to affirm his ascendancy at a new weight against a tough Puerto Rican, junior-lightweight champion Ramon Martinez.

For Nonito Donaire, there’s the chance to reclaim his pound-for-pound credentials against old rival Vic Darchinyan, who for his own part is fighting to regain the aura that made him such a feared fighter.

For the busy Robert Garcia, there are a couple of chances to silence a few critics.

If that’s not enough, there’s a sense that the Top Rank card (HBO 9:30 p.m., ET/PT) is a chessboard full of potential moves that could determine who will be in position to claim Manny Pacquiao’s spot at the top of the marquee if he falls against Brandon Rios in a couple of weeks at Macao.

Start with Mikey Garcia. He’s in the main event, because of a promotional blueprint that has him ticketed for big things. Among them, there’s Fighter of the Year, a possibility that was addressed during a conference call Wednesday.

“I don’t look for that,’’ said Garcia, who possesses a tactical mastery and poise rivaled by perhaps only Gennady Golovkin. “That is something every writer and critic will have to decide on their own. I just try to win every fight and it has been a good year for me so far. I want to finish strong and maybe next year will be an even better year for me.’’

If all goes as well as expected against Martinez, indications are that it won’t be long before Garcia jumps to lightweight. He failed to make the featherweight mandatory, 126 pounds, in his last outing. Martinez gives him a chance to claim another acronym-sanctioned title in another weight against a fighter who never been knocked off his feet. His brother and trainer, Robert Garcia, hinted that a move from 130 to 135 is near.

“Moving up in weight – we should not have a problem but it is still not easy, said Robert Garcia, who will also train Donaire before he packs his bags and heads to Macao next week to work Rios’ corner. “It was hard to get down to 128, which was the weight he fought at last time. That was 128, so it wasn’t even the featherweight division and everybody had seen what Mikey went through to make that weight. One-thirty, hopefully he can make that weight but it won’t be that easy.’’

For Donaire, the trip to Corpus Christi comes on the heels of a rapid rise and quicker fall. A year ago, he was just a few months from being voted 2012’s Fight of the Year. Then, he lost to Guillermo Rigondeaux, perhaps 2013’s Upset of the Year. He arrives in south Texas as a new dad and reunited with his father, who will assist Robert Garcia. Donaire’s dad was there, Nonito said, when he was at his fundamental best — a 2007 stoppage of Darchinyan.

Nonito looked at his young son and thought of his dad. If he was starting over, it only made sense to reunite with the father who was there for the beginning.

Darchinyan has his own ideas. He always does. Since his move into the bantamweight ranks, he’s not been the intimidating force he was as a flyweight. But the edge on his confidence is as sharp as ever.

“I think (Nonito) was exposed in his loss to Rigondeaux,’’ Darchinyan said. “He had a good year and was voted Fighter of the Year, but inside me I know – personally he is a good guy — but about skills and power, he should not be pound-for-pound.’’

Never at a loss for words, Darchinyan had more to say.

“I will stalk him,’’ he said. “It is not about him. It is about me. I have more skills and I have more power. If I am motivated against someone – all of my title fights – I am getting prepared for me. I am not getting prepared for my opponent. I am getting prepared for myself. I have prepared mentally. I know everything that he is going to do and I know everything that I am going to do. I just want to come and demolish him, that’s what I want.’’

There wasn’t much response from the soft-spoken Donaire about all that Darchinyan said. He might still be talking.
Donaire has things to do other than just listen to Darchinyan. Things like sleeping and eating. Still, it sets the stage for a fight with plenty at stake for each.

There’s that, too, for Robert Garcia. Garcia, also Marcos Maidana’s trainer for a Dec. 14 clash with Adrien Broner in San Antonio, was asked about Rios’ loss to Mike Alvarado in a March rematch and Donaire’s defeat to Rigondeaux in April.

“Everybody mentions those two losses that we had with Brandon Rios and Nonito Donaire,’’ he said “But nobody mentions that Mikey beat Orlando Salido, the best featherweight in the division at that time and beat him so easy. Nobody mentions Evgeny Gradovich who beat Billy Dib when he was the underdog and we had an upset. And Jesus Cuellar, who became a featherweight champion also. People just don’t want to remember that. Now we have very important fights coming up with Donaire, with Mikey, with Brandon, with Marcos Maidana – those fights are very dangerous.

“We are training to win the fights, not to please the media or the people that like to criticize our team. We are doing it to win, not to be mentioned among the best trainers in the world.

“We do it because we want to win.’’

On a rare night full of multiple opportunities to do just that, it’ll be interesting to see who walks away with the most say-so.