Donaire taps Garcia for Vegas title defense

MANILA, Philippines - Former IBF superfeatherweight champion Robert (Grandpa) Garcia will be in Nonito Donaire Jr.’s corner when the Filipino Flash stakes his interim WBA superflyweight crown against Mexican challenger Gerson Guerrero in a 12-round bout headlining the “Latin Fury 13/Pinoy Power 3” sequel at the Las Vegas Hilton on Saturday (Sunday morning, Manila).

Garcia, 35, will be joined by conditioning coach Mike Bazzel and Jonathan Peñalosa in Donaire’s corner.

“Robert helped me put together a gameplan that should work very effectively,” Donaire told The STAR in an e-mail. “Jonathan has been at my camp in San Carlos City since after Christmas as my trainer. Mike is from the Undisputed Gym where I train and Robert is my strategist. All bases are covered.”

Donaire said before Garcia flew to Manila for Brian Viloria’s recent fight against Carlos Tamara, they met to discuss strategy for a day.

“I got to watch Guerrero’s fight tapes when Robert came down from Los Angeles,” said Donaire. “The day Robert came, I was already 122 and eating everything in sight. I hadn’t even taken my rice out yet so it’s been great and I have a lot of energy.”

Garcia said he’s excited to work Donaire’s corner for the fight.

“It’s a new role for me as a strategist,” said Garcia. “I really wasn’t involved in his camp as a trainer. Nonito’s manager (Cameron Dunkin) phoned to ask if I could help in thinking out strategies. It’s quite an opportunity to work with a talented fighter like Nonito.”

Garcia is considered a ring legend in Los Angeles like Oscar de la Hoya, Sugar Shane Mosley, Fernando Vargas, Genaro Hernandez, Bobby Chacon, Carlos Palomino, Mike Weaver, Mando Ramos and Manuel Ortiz.

Garcia’s father Eduardo worked in the strawberry fields during the day and taught his son how to box late afternoons at the La Colonia gym which used to be a firehouse in Oxnard, 70 kilometers from Los Angeles. One of Eduardo’s protégés was Vargas whom Garcia grew up with.

After Garcia lost in the 1992 Olympic box-offs to Julian Wheeler, he turned pro at the age of 17 and won his first three bouts by knockout in Japan. Garcia compiled 32 straight wins and appeared invincible when he won the vacant IBF 130-pound title on a decision over Harold Warren in Miami in 1998.

Garcia yielded the crown in his third defense to Diego Corrales in 1999. Then, he was knocked out by Ghanaian Ben Tackie in the 10th and last round in Las Vegas a few months later. Garcia came back to outpoint Sandro Marcos in Phoenix but was stopped by Joel Casamayor in a bid for the WBA title in his next bout. Garcia retired from the ring at 26 after stopping John Trigg in Las Vegas in 2001 with a record of 34-3, with 25 KOs.

“I had no illusions that I was unbeatable,” said Garcia. “I knew someday I would lose to a better man. My most memorable fight was when I got up from a knockdown to stop Ramon Ledon in my first title defense. That was when I felt I was a real world champion. My toughest opponent was Tackie. I boxed him silly and was way ahead on points when he knocked me out with a left hook in the last round. Before I got hit, the Showtime TV announcers commented that it was my best showing ever.”

Garcia said when he lost to Casamayor, the fire was no longer in his belly.

“I just didn’t care anymore,” he said. “I got tired of boxing. I fought one last time and won but that was it. I thought of joining the Oxnard police since I went to school for two years studying to become a cop. But I didn’t want to wait three years before an assignment as a high school policeman. Then, two friends who were pros asked me to train them and I had fun doing it, especially since they were winning. That was when I decided to become a full-time boxing trainer.”

Garcia said the secret to a successful camp is to make boxers enjoy training.  

“At La Colonia, we work as a family,” said Garcia. “All our fighters work together, run as a team, cheer for each other. I’m very strict when it comes to discipline. Our fighters watch their weight and work hard in the gym. There’s no substitute for hard work. But we like to train in an atmosphere where everyone has fun.”

Garcia was credited for reviving Viloria’s career and paving the way for the Hawaiian Punch to win the IBF lightflyweight title by knocking out Ulises Solis at the Araneta Coliseum last year. He also piloted Steven Luevano in winning the WBO featherweight crown.

Early in his pro career, Garcia had a three-year promotional contract with Golden Boy but when De la Hoya insisted on Garcia training with Robert Alcazar instead of his father, the relationship ended. “They wanted Alcazar to be the sole trainer and have me get rid of my dad,” Garcia said, quoted by Jason Levin in Fight Game Magazine. “There was just no way that was going to happen so we left.”

Garcia started hanging around the La Colonia gym when he was five, watching his father train fighters.

“My dad taught me everything about boxing,” he said. “By the time I was 12, guys began calling me grandpa because I was so advanced in boxing. I’ve got seven children, five boys, and my son Alvin who’s turning two is probably going to be a fighter. He’s in the gym all the time. He’s tough, he never cries and he even puts on boxing gloves.”

Garcia’s sons include Valentin and Valente, twins who were born last year.