Angel Robinson Garcia (May 9, 1937 – June 1, 2000) was a Cuban professional boxer, who was the Latin American Super-Featherweight champion. He also fought for the Cuban national Lightweight title, but lost.
Robinson Garcia was known for his large number of professional fights-he fought 237 times-the quality of opponents he faced and number of countries he visited. Robinson Garcia competed against 42 boxers who were world ranked, 16 world champions, 6
International Boxing Hall of Fame
The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America. The I ...
members, in 19 countries and 4 continents. Many of the places he fought at, like
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
and
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, were visited very often by Robinson Garcia.
Notable professional fights
Angel Robinson Garcia started his professional boxing career on July 23, 1955, beating Roberto Garcia by first-round knockout at
Havana
Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.
. He was undefeated for his first four fights, all wins by knockout. On October 28 of 1955, he faced Reinaldo Marquez at Santa Clara, losing for the first time, on a four-round decision. He avenged that loss with a six-round decision win over Marquez on April 5, 1956, also at Santa Clara.
Having amassed a record of 28–2 with 10 knockouts, Robinson Garcia challenged Isidro Martinez, 19-4-1, for the Latin American Super-Featherweight (Junior-Lightweight) title. Robinson Garcia defeated Martinez after dropping him in round eight, with a ninth-round technical knockout, on February 26, 1958, at Havana. Two weeks after, Robinson Garcia held his first fight abroad, and first in the United States, when he faced Bobby Rogers on March 11 at the Auditorium, Miami Beach, losing that encounter by a ten-round decision.
On June 28, 1958, he faced fellow Cuban, world-ranked "Puppy" Garcia, who was 33-8-4 before their fight, at Havana, losing a 10-round unanimous decision.
On January 20, 1959, Robinson Garcia fought Frankie Ryff, again losing by unanimous decision in 10 rounds. On March 14 of that year, he met Doug Vaillant in Havana, losing a ten-round unanimous decision before then taking on Mexico's Alfredo Urbina on May 16, beating the Mexican by a ten-round unanimous decision. He then met Carlos Hernandez, the future
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
's first world champion boxer in history, and fought Hernandez to a ten-round draw (tie) August 15, 1959. Robinson Garcia faced Vicente Rivas and Jiro Sawada before 1959 ended, losing to Rivas but beating Sawada, both by ten-round decisions in Venezuela.
During 1960, Robinson Garcia squared off with Jose Stable twice, '' Mantequilla Napoles'', Hernandez and Vaillant in rematches. He split his two bouts with Stable, winning a split decision and then losing a unanimous one, lost a ten-round decision to Napoles, drew with Vaillant and lost twice to Hernandez. He also fought six other fights against lesser-known rivals, going 5–1 with 3 knockout wins on those.
Robinson Garcia had a third meeting with Doug Vaillant, this time with the Cuban national title on the line. On February 1, at Havana, they had a close 12 round bout, Vaillant prevailing by a split decision. On March, Robinson Garcia made his first trip as a professional boxer to
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, being defeated there on March 25 by Urbina on a rematch by ninth-round technical knockout and then on April 22 by Kid Anahuac by third round disqualification. Robinson Garcia lived in Mexico for one month, before returning to Cuba to face Jose Napoles a second time: on June 3, 1961, he again went ten rounds with the future world Welterweight champion and International Boxing Hall of Fame member, but once again dropped a points decision.
One month later, on July 7, Robinson Garcia boxed 16-1-2 Pastor Marrero at Havana and won by decision in ten rounds. Fidel Castro soon abolished professional boxing in Cuba, however, and this would be Robinson Garcia's last presentation as a boxer in his home country.
Robinson Garcia flew to Jamaica to fight
Bunny Grant
George Leslie "Bunny" Grant (29 September 1940 – 1 November 2018) was a Jamaican professional feather/ super feather/light/ light welter/welterweight/ light middleweight boxer of the 1950s, '60s and '70s who won the Jamaican lightweight ti ...
at the National Stadium in Kingston, on August 30, losing that fight by a close but unanimous ten-round decision, judges Tony Bridge scoring against him 99–96, Gilbert Aarons also against him 97-96 and Seaside Johnson deeming him loser by a wider score of 99–93.
Robinson Garcia returned to the winning column six weeks later, defeating Hilton Smith by a 10-round unanimous decision at Miami. He temporarily moved to Miami, being trained by
Angelo Dundee
Angelo is an Italian masculine given name and surname meaning "angel", or "messenger".
People People with the given name
*Angelo Accattino (born 1966), Italian prelate of the Catholic Church
*Angelo Acciaioli (bishop) (1298–1357), Italian Rom ...
at the 5th Street Gym there.
He then settled in France, fighting his next seven bouts there, going undefeated during that period, with four knockout wins. On September 11, 1962, Robinson Garcia faced world ranked Valerio Nunez, 36-1 before their bout, at
Palazzetto dello Sport
The Palazzetto dello Sport (literally "Small Sport Palace"), also less commonly known as the PalaTizianoRome, Italy, and upset Nunez by pulling a seventh-round disqualification win.
After 2 more victories and 1 draw, Robinson Garcia faced the well-known French fighter,
Jean Josselin
Jean Josselin (6 January 1940 – 7 February 2021) was a French welterweight boxer. He competed at the 1960 Olympics and won a bronze medal at the 1961 European Amateur Boxing Championships. After that he turned professional and won his first 1 ...
, until then undefeated in 17 outings, on December 3, at the Palais des Sports,
Paris, France
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
, losing to Josselin by a ten rounds unanimous decision.
Robinson Garcia began 1963 by fighting against another world champion and future International Boxing Hall of Fame member,
Eddie Perkins
Eddie Perkins (March 3, 1937 – May 10, 2012) was an American light welterweight boxer. He compiled an amateur boxing record of 26–10.
Professional career
Born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, Perkins turned professional in 1956. He was man ...
, at the Palais de Sports, losing a ten-round unanimous decision. He slowed his schedule somewhat during this year, fighting only 4 more times, during which he went undefeated with 2 wins and two draws, one win by knockout.
1964 was another typical career year for Robinson Garcia, as he fought eight times, including: a fight on March 9 against another world champion and future International Boxing Hall of Famer, Ismael Laguna, where he actually dropped Laguna in the first round before losing on points in ten rounds at Paris; an April 13 upset of 16-1 Rey Adigun, beaten by a fifth-round technical knockout; and a June 5 upset of Rafiu King, who was beaten by ten rounds decision at the Ivory Coast.
In 1965, Robinson Garcia returned to the ring 13 times, going 9–4 with 2 knockouts against the likes of Joe Tetteh, beaten by a ten-round decision at
January 30, and Olli Maki, against whom he lost by ten-round decision in Tampere, Finland, on February 21. 1965 also saw Robinson Garcia re-settle, moving to
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, where he held his next 11 bouts after the Maki fight.
Robinson Garcia had an active 1966, with 20 fights that year, winning 12, losing 3 and drawing 5, with 6 knockouts. On February 22, he met Maurice Cullen at the Royal Albert Hall,
London, England
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...
, losing by ten-round decision. On April 10, he knocked out Kid Tano, 45-5-6, in six rounds at the Canary Islands and then, only 11 days later, he held Italy's Carmelo Bossi, a future world champion, to a ten-round draw at
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
.
1967 saw an April 28 fight against Bruno Arcari at
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...
, Italy, which Robinson Garcia lost by ten-round decision; a rematch with Bossi on July 14 in Rome that resulted in Bossi defeating Robinson Garcia by fifth-round knockout; a rematch with Eddie Perkins in Milan on December 5 that was won by Perkins by ten-round decision; and seven more bouts in which Robinson Garcia won 5, lost 2 and scored 4 knockout wins.
In 1968, Robinson Garcia fought 9 times, going 5-2-2 during the year with 3 knockouts. Among those he met on the ring that year were LC Morgan twice (March 22, ten-round draw in Rome; April 19, ninth-round knockout win in Rome), Paul Armstead three times (May 10, ten-round decision loss at Toscana; June 21, ten-round decision win at Milan; July 28, ten-round draw at San Remo) and International Boxing Hall of Fame member, future undisputed world Lightweight Champion
Ken Buchanan
Ken Buchanan Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 28 June 1945) is a Scottish retired professional boxer from Edinburgh and the former List of undisputed boxing champions, undisputed world lightweight champion.Reg Gutteridge, Gutteridge, Reg" ...
, who beat Robinson Garcia by a ten-round decision on October 23 at London.
Robinson Garcia had a layoff of eight months between the Buchanan contest and his next one, on June 1969. The second half of that year, however, saw him fight 12 times, including a September 10 loss by ten-round decision to future WBC world Lightweight-and Spain's second-Champion
Pedro Carrasco
Pedro Juan Carrasco García (11 July 1943 – 27 January 2001) was a Spanish boxer whose fame transcended the boxing ring. During the 1970s, he was a media darling in Spain.
Carrasco was crowned European Lightweight champion in 1967. This triu ...
at the Basque Country and a December 30 defeat at the hands of 19-2-4
Chris Fernandez
Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common.
People with the given name
*Chris Abani (born 1966), Nige ...
by ten-round decision also.
Robinson Garcia contested 17 bouts in 1970. These included an August 21 match with José Durán, won by Durán by ten rounds decision at
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
and a November 20 bout with French
Roger Menetrey
Roger Menetrey (born 16 June 1945) is a retired French professional welterweight boxer. On 4 June 1971 he won the European Boxing Union (EBU) title and defended it five times. On 23 June 1973 he unsuccessfully contested the WBC title against ...
. Apart from those two fights, Robinson Garcia won 10 and lost 5 in 1970, with 1 knockout win. Between November and December 1970 alone, Robinson Garcia had 6 bouts.
Robinson Garcia went 5-6-4 in 15 bouts during 1971, with 2 knockout wins. The fights he held in 1971 included rematch wins over Joe Tetteh (by ten-round decision, February 11) and Bunny Grant (ten-round decision on April 5). Also in 1971 was a May 21 ten-round draw against former Spain and European Boxing Union Lightweight and future WBC world Junior Welterweight Champion Miguel Velazquez, who was 46-1-2 before this bout; a rematch loss to Chris Fernandez on
July 2, by ten-round decision; and an October 1 loss to Robert Gallois, 45-5-1, by ten-round decision at Marseilles.
Perhaps the most notable of Robinson Garcia's fights was on January 15, 1972, when he faced a then 26–0, future four division world champion and International Boxing Hall of Fame member
Roberto Durán
Roberto Durán Samaniego (born June 16, 1951) is a Panamanian former professional boxer who competed from 1968 to 2001. He held world championships in four weight classes: lightweight, welterweight, light middleweight and middleweight, as w ...
at the Gimnasio Nuevo Panama-now Gimnasio Roberto Durán-at
Panama City
Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...
. Robinson Garcia gave Durán a relatively close fight but still lost by unanimous ten-round decision with scores of 99–93, 98-94 and 98–96, all in favor of the Panamanian. Robinson Garcia went 1-4 the rest of that year, facing, among others, Esteban De Jesus in
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the juri ...
, to whom he dropped a ten-round decision on July 8.
He split eight bouts in 1973, going 4-4 during that span, with 2 knockouts. On March 29, he boxed the future ranked challenger, Puerto Rican Sandy Torres at
Tampa, Florida
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...
, and lost a ten-round decision. On July 17, he boxed future WBC world Junior Welterweight Champion
Saoul Mamby
Saoul Paul Mamby (June 4, 1947 – December 19, 2019) was an American professional boxer who fought between 1969 and 2008. He held the WBC super lightweight title from 1980 to 1982.
Personal
Born in South Bronx, New York, Mamby, the child ...
at the Miami Beach auditorium and lost a ten-round decision as well.
During the first half of 1974, Robinson Garcia contested in ten fights, going 6–4 with 3 knockout wins during this span. He faced, among others, Mexican Marcos Geraldo (who'd later last ten rounds against
Sugar Ray Leonard
Ray Charles Leonard (born May 17, 1956), best known as "Sugar" Ray Leonard, is an American former professional boxer, motivational speaker, and occasional actor. Often regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, he competed professional ...
and
Marvelous Marvin Hagler
Marvelous Marvin Hagler (born Marvin Nathaniel Hagler; May 23, 1954 – March 13, 2021) was an American professional boxer and film actor. He competed in boxing from 1973 to 1987 and reigned as the undisputed champion of the middleweight divi ...
) on January 23 at the
Silver Slipper
The Silver Slipper was a casino in Paradise, Nevada, that operated from September 1950 to November 29, 1988. The building was designed by architect Martin Stern, Jr.
History
Opened in 1950, the casino was built on the grounds of the Last Fron ...
Hotel in
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...
, upsetting Geraldo by a fourth-round knockout win; then-undefeated Sugar Ray Seales on February 13 also at the Silver Slipper Hotel, losing by ten-round decision; Puerto Rican Josue Marquez (who had recently fought
Antonio Cervantes
Antonio Cervantes (born December 23, 1945) is a Colombian boxing trainer and former professional boxer who competed from 1961 to 1983. He held the WBA and ''The Ring'' light welterweight title twice between 1972 and 1980.
In 2002, Cervantes ...
for his world Junior Welterweight title) only five days after the Seales fight, losing by ten-round decision at San Juan; future
Alexis Arguello Alexis may refer to:
People Mononym
* Alexis (poet) ( – ), a Greek comic poet
* Alexis (sculptor), an ancient Greek artist who lived around the 3rd or 4th century BC
* Alexis (singer) (born 1968), German pop singer
* Alexis (comics) (1946–1977 ...
world Junior Lightweight title challenger Arturo Leon, whom Robinson Garcia defeated by six-round decision at the Caesars' Tahoe in Stateline, Nevada, on April 18; Eddie Perkins again only nine days after the win against Leon-a ten-round unanimous decision loss at
Tucson, Arizona
, "(at the) base of the black ill
, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town"
, image_map =
, mapsize = 260px
, map_caption = Interactive map ...
; and future Angel Espada world Welterweight title challenger Johnny Gant, who obtained a ten-round decision win over Robinson Garcia on July 18 at
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
. Robinson Garcia had five extra fights apart from these in 1974, going 5–0 with 3 knockouts against lesser opposition, to finish 1974 winning 11 of 15 bouts held that year.
1975 was a relatively inactive year for Robinson Garcia as he only fought five times. Nevertheless, among those five bouts was one against future Leonard world title challenger Larry Bonds, who outpointed Robinson Garcia over ten rounds at Las Vegas on February 26, future three time world champion and International Boxing Hall of Fame member, the then-only 16 years old
Wilfred Benítez
Wilfred "Wilfredo" Benítez (born September 12, 1958) is an American-born Puerto Rican former professional boxer and the youngest world champion in the sport's history. Earning his first of three career world titles in separate weight division ...
, who beat Robinson Garcia by ten-round decision on June 9 at the Ramon Loubriel Stadium in Bayamon, Puerto Rico-(sometimes incorrectly said to be in San Juan); and Adriano Marrero, a Dominican who would later challenge Antonio Cervantes unsuccessfully for Cervantes' WBA world Junior Welterweight title and who beat Robinson Garcia by a 10-round decision on August 5.
Of Robinson Garcia's seven 1976 bouts, six were held in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
and one in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. He went 1-5-1 during that span, losing to former undisputed world Welterweight Champion
Billy Backus
Billy Backus, (born March 5, 1943 in Canastota, New York) is a former World Welterweight Champion professional boxer. In the summer of 2006 Backus retired from his correctional facility job and moved to South Carolina."Canastota's last champ pulls ...
by a ten-round unanimous decision on April 3 at
Utica, New York
Utica () is a city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The tenth-most-populous city in New York State, its population was 65,283 in the 2020 U.S. Census. Located on the Mohawk River at the ...
; to Rafael Rodriguez on points in 10 on May 5 at Minneapolis, Minnesota; to former and future WBA world Welterweight title challenger Clyde Gray by ten round unanimous decision on September 2 at
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...
Rochester, New York
Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located in W ...
. He beat 24-10 Perry Abner by an upset ninth-round technical knockout on July 28 at
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
.
In 1977, Robinson Garcia fought only 3 times, losing twice and winning once.
1978 proved to be Robinson Garcia's last year as an active professional boxer. He lost twice that year, including his last bout, on February 25, to contender Paul Payen, 17-1 coming in, on a ten-round decision at Hainaut,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
.
In 237 bouts, Robinson Garcia had a win-loss-draw record of 135 wins, 82 losses and 20 draws, his 53 knockout wins making him a member of the exclusive club of boxers with 50 or more knockout wins in professional boxing. Of his 82 defeats, only 3 were by way of knockout or technical knockout. The latter fact might have, ironically, contributed to his later, boxing related diseases as he took punches from some of boxing's best fighters of his era for prolonged periods of time.
Life away from boxing
According to Ferdie Pacheco, Robinson Garcia once told him that he spent 6 months in an Italian jail for beating up a woman.
Cuban boxing expert Enrique Encinosa said that Robinson Garcia returned to Paris, living as a homeless man there before Fidel Castro allowed him to return to Cuba and spend his last days at the Caribbean country. Also according to Encinosa, Robinson Garcia was once married in Paris.
Buck Smith
Buck Smith (born July 22, 1965) is an American professional boxer in the welterweight division. Although Smith has never been considered more than a journeyman fighter, he is one of boxing's all-time knockout kings with 120 KO's.
Professional car ...