[2] His older brother, Roberto was a professional boxer and a former IBF Super Featherweight Champion who lost his belt to the late Diego Corrales.

[10] In his next fight HBO asked Garcia to turn down a world title shot against Billy Dib to fight on the undercard of Sebastian Zbik vs. Julio César Chávez Jr.. After his win over Rafaël Guzmán, Garcia sent his well wishes to Genaro Hernández who was struggling with cancer, Hernández would die a few days later.

In front of a crowd of 5,605 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, Garcia dominated the fight from the opening bell, dropping Lopez in round 2 following a right straight hand.

[20][21] On August 1, 2013 the WBO ordered their junior lightweight champion Román Martínez (27–1–2, 16 KOs) to make a mandatory defence against Garcia.

[22] On September 9, the date of the purse bid, a deal was set for the fight to take place on November 9 at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas.

[28] On December 14, 2013 it was announced that Garcia would make his first title defense against mandatory challenger, 25 year old Mexican boxer Juan Carlos Burgos (30–1–2, 20 KOs).

The fight was set for January 25, 2014 at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City on a live double-header on HBO Boxing After Dark, with Bryant Jennings vs. Artur Szpilka as co-main event.

[38] On April 8, 2016, it was confirmed that Garcia and Top Rank, who were locked in a dispute over his promotional contract, had reached a settlement, according to Bob Arum.

[39] Top Rank announced on June 28, 2016, after 2 and a half years off, Garcia would be returning to the boxing ring against former world featherweight titleholder Elio Rojas on July 30 on Showtime in a 10-round bout at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on the undercard of Santa-Cruz-Frampton.

The weight had not been contractually hashed out, however Garcia planned to move down with the hopes of challenging for a world title in the 135-pound lightweight division.

Zlatičanin claimed the vacant title by knocking out Franklin Mamani in June and also holds decision victories over the likes of Petr Petrov and former multiple weight world champion Ricky Burns.

The fight would take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and again serve as a co-feature to the anticipated rematch between Carl Frampton and Leo Santa Cruz on January 28, 2017.

[44] The end came after Garcia hit a two punch combination starting with an uppercut which led Zlatičanin open for a final right hook which dropped him backwards on the floor, a knockout of the year candidate.

[47] On May 25, 2017 it was announced that talks were underway for a fight between Garcia and four-weight world champion Adrien Broner on July 29, 2017 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

On Monday, May 22, Broner was sentenced to 72 hours at the Kenton County Detention Center in Covington, Kentucky, on a contempt charge, after failing to make multiple court appearances.

Garcia's trainer and brother Roberto explained that it was his friend Rudy Hernandez who first mentioned taking Mikey up to 154 pounds for a one off fight.

"[67] On December 14, 2017 RingTV.com announced that Garcia would next challenge recently crowned IBF light welterweight champion Sergey Lipinets (13-0, 10 KOs) on February 10, 2018 on Showtime for a package reportedly worth approximately $3.5 million.

With the victory, Garcia also became the lineal light welterweight champion and joined Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez as the only fighters in history to win titles at 126, 130, 135 and 140 pounds.

[80][81] On April 24, WBC president Sulaiman stated Garcia would participate in a lightweight unification with IBF beltholder Robert Easter Jr. in the summer.

[85] Before a crowd of 12,560, Garcia dropped Easter in round 3 on his way to a unanimous decision win with scores of 116–111, 117–110 and 118–109, to become the unified WBC and IBF lightweight champion.

[91] On July 31, 2018, the IBF ordered Garcia to defend his newly-won title against mandatory challenger Richard Commey (26–2, 23 KOs), with a deal to be reached by August 30.

Then-IBF champion Easter was ordered to fight Commey before March 30, 2018 however the IBF granted an exception for the Garcia-Easter unification bout as long as the winner satisfied their mandatory next.

[92] On October 19, Commey tweeted that the IBF had ordered the bout to go to purse bids as Garcia had not signed his side of the contract.

[93] On October 25, BoxingScene.com reported that negotiations between Garcia and Spence (24–0, 21 KOs) were progressing, with the fight likely to take place in February 2019 on Showtime PPV.

[94] On October 30, 2018, Garcia vacated his IBF lightweight title and the purse bid for the potential Commey fight was cancelled.

It was announced the fight between Garcia and Spence would take place at the welterweight limit at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on March 16, 2019 exclusively on FOX PPV.

Some welcomed the fight and praised Garcia for 'daring to be great' and some fans believed the size difference would be too much as Spence is considered a big welterweight.

[102] In a hard-fought battle, Garcia dropped his opponent in the fifth round and earned a unanimous decision victory, with scores of 114-113, 116-111, and 116-111 to capture the WBC Diamond belt.

I want to continue to campaign at 147 [lbs] and seek a title in a fifth division.”[104] After a layoff of almost twenty months since his last fight, Garcia returned to the ring to face European super lightweight champion Sandor Martin on October 16, 2021, in Fresno, California.

Despite being the heavy pre-fight betting favorite, Garcia suffered his second professional defeat, when he was outboxed to a majority decision loss, with scores of 95–95, and 97–93 twice in favor of Martin.