Lawler's All In against Garrett
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
Robbie Lawler's baggy jeans at a press conference last night may have been a good indication.
He wants his belt back.
Lawler's climb back to the top of the Icon Sport organization will begin tomorrow at the "All In" card at the Blaisdell Center Arena.
Lawler will take on Trevor Garrett in the main event of the 14-bout card.
"If I bring my A-game, there's not too many fighters who can stay in there with me," Lawler said. "And I'm expecting to bring my A-game (tomorrow)."
Lawler, who is from the famous Miletich Fighting Systems in Davenport, Iowa, is 12-4 with nine knockouts. Garrett, who is from Springboro, Ohio, is 6-9.
Lawler will be fighting in Hawai'i for the first time since losing his Icon Sport middleweight (185 pounds) championship belt to Jason "Mayhem" Miller last September.
Since then, Lawler earned a spectacular knockout of Joey Villasenor at a fight in Las Vegas in October, and Miller lost the Icon Sport championship to Frank Trigg in December.
"I can't worry about anybody else, and I'm not worried about anybody else," Lawler said. "I just have to keep beating people up and keep winning, and everything will work out."
A victory over Garrett could earn Lawler a rematch with Miller, or a title shot against Trigg.
Garrett, however, does not plan on cooperating.
"I definitely want to spoil the plans," he said. "If people think they're bringing me in here as a nice little fight for Robbie to win, I'd like to show them something else."
One year ago, Garrett upset Rory Markham, who is Lawler's teammate at the Miletich gym.
"He's a strong fighter," Lawler said of Garrett. "And he likes to slug it out, so it should be a good fight."
Garrett said he started out as a puncher, but recently incorporated jiu-jitsu and wrestling into his game plan.
"I thought I could bully people around, but if you look at my record, it doesn't work that way in this sport," he said. "So I took the time to train and train, and now I'm a totally new fighter — ready for anything (Lawler) can bring."
TOMORROW'S CARD
185 pounds: Robbie Lawler vs. Trevor Garrett. 185: Renato "Charuto" Verissimo vs. Kris Fleurestil. 205: Jeremy Williams vs. Derek Thornton. Heavyweight: Scott Junk vs. John George. 145: Chico Cantiberos vs. Bronson Pieper. 170: Mark Moreno vs. Sam Jackson. 150: Mike Balasi vs. Jerome Kekumu. Heavyweight: Randy Lueder vs. Ron Fields. 195: Kekoa Baker vs. Kala Kolohe Hose. 145: Sadhu Bott vs. Peni Taufa'ao. 160: Justin Bucholz vs. Brandon Pieper. Heavyweight: Allen Lau vs. Richard Desforge. 135: Duane Haney vs. Jay Bolos. 140: Isaiah Cobb-Adams vs. Devon Chong.
Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.