Garcia, who has a record of 28-2 (with one no-contest) with 21 stoppages to his credit, was not Top Rank’s original choice to face Margarito in his comeback. But he eventually got the call.
"I had a beautiful feeling; I couldn’t sleep that night," he recalled, on landing the assignment." Me and my wife, my family, God, I just couldn’t get the smile off my face. I wanted that fight bad because they actually had it for a friend of mine, Carson Jones; they had it for him and we were in camp together in Texas and he had Margarito. I told him, ’Man, mess up your hand; I want that fight.’ I was just playing- but I meant it. And it worked out that way."
It was thrown around by Top Rank to have Margarito return on March 13th in Dallas, Texas on Manny Pacquiao’s undercard. But as political pressure mounted against that move, it was decided that Margarito- who has still not re-applied for his license in the States- would make his return in Mexico. It’s believed that Jones was a bit reluctant to face Margarito down south.
And you couldn’t necessarily blame Jones in not wanting to face a man who was caught, before his loss to Shane Mosley, with illegal hand-wraps in a foreign jurisdiction. While some boxers believe that Margarito should never be allowed to fight ever again, Garcia is a fighter; it’s not his job to be judge and jury. He wasn’t about to turn down this opportunity.
"To me, a ring is a ring; it’s 18 feet or whatever it is. I’ve fought in Costa Rica; a ring is a ring to me. No matter what the fans say, it’s not going to stop me from doing my work," he says.
Garcia, is a rugged, hard-hitting grinder. There isn’t much finesse to his game. He figures to test the mettle of Margarito, who was knocked out rather brutally by Mosley in his last outing. Coming into this bout, not only is his true punching power a mystery, but now, so is his ability to take a punch. You never know; Margarito, could be a spent bullet.
So just what caliber of Margarito is Garcia expecting?
"Y’ know what? I really think I’m facing the Margarito that has something to prove because he wants to show that it wasn’t the hand-wraps and stuff like that," says the native of Weslaco, Texas. "I’m thinking I’m fighting a Margarito that’s more determined than ever; he has something to prove this time around."
Both he and his opponent are coming into this fight with new trainers. Ironically, Margarito’s new cornerman is named Robert Garcia (the former IBF junior lightweight titlist), who is trying to implement a bit more boxing with his new client. But can you teach an old dog new tricks?
Garcia says, "I don’t know, me, I always see that there’s always room for improvement. I’m a student of the sport. I don’t think I know it all. Which is why I think I’m improving working with Freddie [Roach] and Eric [Brown] now; I’m becoming a much smarter fighter. They are really sharpening my claws, so to speak."
In the two years this reporter has known Garcia, he’s been with at least a few trainers, been situated at about three different gyms, and has changed promoters and managers. Stability hasn’t been his strong suit. As you bring this up, even his wife- who has been the one constant throughout all this- laughs at the thought. But he says now that he is on steady ground.
"Yeah, I think this time around, things just kinda fell into place," he said, chuckling at his long and winding path. "But it was a rough two years, man, jumping around, trying to find the right combination of trainers. People that really gave me a shot and when I asked Freddie to work with me, I told him, ’It’s the biggest fight of my life.’ I needed him and I asked him and he said he would do it."
Roach, who is perhaps the busiest trainer in the sport, will not be in his corner on Saturday night. Leading the way for him will be Brown, who has worked closely with Garcia throughout this process. Brown has promised that his charge will knock out Margarito. On paper, it figures to be a rough, physical battle between two men who don’t like to back up.
"I think it’s going to be a good fight. We both want it. I know I want it bad because, God-willing, after I beat Margarito, the plan we have to beat him, after that, the whole world is going to know who I am. I’m tired of being a secret," said Garcia, who said he planned to bring the fight right to Margarito. "I’m going to be all I can be. My heart is going to stay in that ring because my whole life depends on this fight. Everything.
"The only difference between me and Margarito is that he’s eaten. I haven’t eaten, man."
KHAN DO AMERICA
After some delay, it was announced on Friday that Amir Khan has finally received his visa and he will head to New York, to begin his final preparations to face Paulie Malignaggi on May 15th at the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York on HBO.
Just asking (because that’s what I do), but why wasn’t this issue handled earlier?
WEEKEND FLURRIES
I’ve been told that Kevin Iole’s number regarding the pay-per-view numbers for Mayweather-Mosley, which he reported at 1.1-1.2 million on Monday are indeed, very accurate. What I find interesting is that neither Golden Boy or HBO have released any numbers themselves...Fernando Vargas is promoting a show on June 19th in Lindsay, California from the McDermont Field House that features former world champion Martin Castillo...There is a pretty good fight on the untelevised portion of the Cintron-Williams undercard at the Home Depot Center in Carson as Martin Honorio takes on Argenis Mendez. I think Mendez wins this one...Lou DiBella tells me that the bout between IBF light heavyweight titlist Tavoris Cloud and Glen Johnson is on for August 7th. It will be the co-feature to Devon Alexander, who still needs a dance partner on HBO...Nobody in So Cal is remotely surprised that Brian Cushing of the Houston Texans was suspended for illegal P.E.D.s...Yeah, I guess the Cavs re-established themselves against the Celtics, I’d say...This week’s edition of “The Main Event” featured Paul Williams and Martin Rogers of Yahoo! Sports...Any questions or comments can be sent to k9kim@yahoo.com and you can follow me at www.twitter.com/stevemaxboxing. You can also become a Facebook fan of Maxboxing at www.facebook.com/MaxBoxing
