Frank Garza to conduct referees seminar

Frank Garza will conduct a referees seminar during the third WBC Women’s Convention and WBC Asian Summit at the Philippine International Convention Center this weekend with the Detroit resident expected to expound on his philosophy that’s centered on the four Cs – compassion, concern, courteousness and common sense.

GAB, headed by chairman Abraham Mitra, is organizing the event where some 500 delegates are booked to attend from over 17 countries. It will be the fourth Manila staging of a WBC Convention but the first for women. Manila hosted the WBC Convention in 1967, 1970 and 2007. The WBC and the Philippines enjoy a special bond because two Filipinos played a key role in laying the foundations of the organization. Justiniano Montano was the third WBC president after Onslow Fane of the UK and Luis Spota of Mexico while Atty. Rudy Salud was the WBC secretary-general who crafted the WBC Constitution and By-Laws in 1967. It was Salud who appointed Jose Sulaiman of Mexico as deputy secretary-general in 1968. Sulaiman took over from Ramon Velasquez, another Mexican, as WBC president in 1975 and his son Mauricio now heads the body. Velasquez succeeded Montano in 1971.

Garza, 66, will preside in the referees seminar from 1 to 4 p.m. this Sunday. Two other seminars are scheduled with Hubert Minn of Hawaii tackling judging and Professor Dej Sri-Ampai of Thailand discussing training of Muay Thai officials.

There’s no better choice than Garza to take up the finer points of refereeing. He has been assigned as the third man in the ring all over the world with stops in Monaco, Latvia, China, Finland, Germany, France, Australia, Thailand, Japan, Canada and India. Garza began his pro refereeing career in 1986 and remains active today. Some of the world champions he’s been in the ring with are Floyd Mayweather, Jr. twice, Adrien Broner twice, Hasim Rahman, Canelo Alvarez, Deontay Wilder, Erik Morales, James Toney, Mike Tyson, Eusebio Pedroza and Diego Corrales.

Twice, Garza was the referee in fights involving Filipinos. In 2012, he was in Mexico when Denver Cuello halted hometowner Ganigan Lopez in the second round in a WBC silver minimumweight title bout. And last December, he was in France when local favorite Nordine Oubaali stopped Mark Anthony Geraldo in the seventh round in a WBC silver bantamweight championship match.

Garza would be in a position to share insights on Broner’s style since he worked the Cincinnati fighter’s knockout wins over Guillermo Sanchez in 2010 and Vicente Rodriguez in 2011. Broner faces WBA welterweight champion Sen. Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas on Jan. 19. Garza also worked Mayweather’s knockout victories over Kino Rodriguez in 1997 and Philip Ndou in 2003.

A fight where Garza gained world-wide prominence was Tyson’s short-lived brawl with Andrew Golota in Auburn Hills, Michigan, in 2000. Before the fight, Garza told the bad-boy protagonists “they could absolve themselves of everything they had done in the past in the ring, this was a new career for them.” Tyson floored Golota in the first round and after the second canto, the burly Pole pushed Garza and his trainers away, calling it quits. Garza stopped the fight and declared Tyson the winner by technical knockout. Golota left the ring in a chorus of boos and under a barrage of debris, garbage and beer. The fight was later reversed to a no-contest when Tyson turned out positive for marijuana in the lockerroom drug test.

Garza, who has received recognition as a referee and sportswriter, was employed by the Buckeye Pipeline Company as a station operator for 37 years. In the book “Third Man in the Ring” by Mike Fitzgerald and Patrick Morley, it was mentioned that Garza cited Mayweather, Alvarez and Tyson as the most memorable fighters he has worked with. Mayweather had the most talent, Tyson a larger-than-life persona and Alvarez incredible popularity and charisma, he said.

Garza, who has been mistaken by fans for legendary Filipino referee Carlos Padilla because of their resemblance, once told the North American Boxing Federation website that “I’d like to be remembered as an official who was honest, treated every fight whether it was a four-round preliminary fight or a world championship fight with the same respect and dignity … never interfered nor influenced himself as a factor of the decision and most of all, never got anyone hurt.”