Roberto Garcia Cortez (born January 29, 1975) is an American former

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

who competed from 1992 to 2001, and held the

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

junior lightweight Super featherweight, also known as junior lightweight, is a weight division in professional boxing, contested between and . The super featherweight division was established by the New York Walker Law in 1920, although first founded by the New ...

title from 1998 to 1999. He has since worked as a

boxing trainer Boxing training is the training method that boxers use in order to get more fit for their sport. Training A boxer's training depends largely on the point in their career at which they are situated. If the boxer is just a beginner, a minimal t ...

, and was voted Trainer of the Year by ''The Ring'' magazine in 2011, and by the

Boxing Writers Association of America The Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) was originally formed in 1926 as the Boxing Writers Association of Greater New York. The association's purpose is to promote better working conditions for boxing writers, as well as hold its writers t ...

in 2012. He is the older brother of professional boxer

Mikey Garcia Miguel Angel Garcia Cortez (born December 15, 1987), best known as Mikey Garcia, is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2006 to 2021. He held multiple world championships in four weight classes from featherweight to light w ...

, who is a world champion in four weight classes.

Early life

Born in

San Pedro, Los Angeles San Pedro ( ; Spanish: "St. Peter") is a neighborhood within the City of Los Angeles, California. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los Angeles in 1909. The Port of Los Angeles, a major international seaport, is partially located wi ...

, Garcia grew up and still resides in

Oxnard, California Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. On California's South Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the 22nd-most-populous city in California. Incorporated in 1903, Oxnard lies approximately wes ...

, and was trained by his father Eduardo Garcia at the

La Colonia Youth Boxing Club La Colonia Youth Boxing Club is a boxing gym on 1st Street in La Colonia, a neighborhood in Oxnard, California. Notable Mexican American boxers train at the gym and future boxers are also brought up there.

. Garcia said that he has been in Oxnard, California, since he was two years old. He considers himself to be Mexican, and has said that his father and mother are both of Mexican descent. He said that his parents were illegal immigrants until the eighties. He said that he grew up speaking Spanish, and that he learned to speak English when he went to school.

Amateur career

Garcia had an extensive amateur career, which included a fight with future Olympic gold medalist

Oscar De La Hoya Oscar De La Hoya ( , ; born on February 4, 1973) is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2008. His accolades include winning 11 world titles in six weight classes, including the lineal championship ...

Professional career

Known as "Grandpa", Garcia won his pro debut against Tsutomu Hitono at the International Center in

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. He accumulated a record of 20–0, which included a win against future champion

Derrick Gainer Derrick "Smoke" Gainer (born August 22, 1972) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1990 to 2012. He held the WBA featherweight title from 2000 to 2003. Professional career In 2000, Gainer defeated Freddie Norwood to win t ...

, before challenging for his first regional title.

NABF super featherweight champion

In 1995 he took down the previously unbeaten American Julian Wheeler to win his first belt, the NABF

Super Featherweight Super featherweight, also known as junior lightweight, is a weight division in professional boxing, contested between and . The super featherweight division was established by the New York Walker Law in 1920, although first founded by the New ...

Championship. He successfully defended his championship just three months later against Francisco Segura.

NABF featherweight champion

At the Miami Arena, Garcia moved down to Featherweight and beat Darryl Pinckney to win the NABF

Featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, thi ...

Championship.

IBF super featherweight champion

On March 13, 1998 a then undefeated Garcia (29–0) captured the vacant IBF Super Featherweight Championship with a unanimous decision win over Harold Warren. In his first title defense he knocked out Cuban Ramon Ledon at the Trump Taj Mahal,

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.

. His next fight was against two-time World Champion, Puerto Rico's

John John Molina Juan Molina (born March 17, 1965), better known as John John Molina in the world of boxing, is a former boxer whose career transcended boxing in Puerto Rico. A multiple time world champion, this boxer was also known as quite a socialite. Molin ...

. Garcia defeated Molina over twelve rounds; that fight card also featured

Mike Tyson Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is cons ...

Zab Judah Zabdiel Judah (born October 27, 1977) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2019. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the IBF and WBO junior welterweight titles between 2000 and 2004 ...

, and

Fres Oquendo Fres Oquendo (born April 1, 1973) is a Puerto Rican professional heavyweight boxer. He had a successful amateur record before turning professional in 1997. He has challenged three times for world heavyweight titles. Amateur career He had an amat ...

. He lost the belt in an upset to rising undefeated phenom

Diego Corrales Diego "Chico" Corrales Jr. (August 25, 1977 – May 7, 2007) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2007. He was a multiple-time world champion in two weight divisions, having held the International Boxing Federation, IBF su ...

. After a win over title contender Sandro Marcos he moved back up in the world rankings.

WBA super featherweight title challenge and retirement

In January 2001, he earned a shot at the undefeated WBA

champion

Joel Casamayor Joel Casamayor Johnson (born July 12, 1971) is a Cuban American former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2011. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the WBA super featherweight title from 2000 to 2002; and the ...

. Casamayor won the fight and Garcia retired shortly after beating veteran John Trigg by knockout.

Training career

Garcia formally worked as a trainer at La Colonia Gym in

. Notable fighters who have trained under Garcia include

Nonito Donaire Nonito Gonzales Donaire Jr. (; ; born November 16, 1982) is a Filipino American professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in four weight classes from flyweight to featherweight, and is the oldest boxer in history to win a b ...

and

Tony Ferguson Anthony Armand Ferguson Padilla (born February 12, 1984) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Lightweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is a former Interim UFC Lightweight C ...

. Most recently he opened his own boxing gym named Robert Garcia Boxing Academy in

Notable boxers trained

* Christopher Algieri, former WBO World

Light Welterweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...

Champion *Allan Benitez,

Lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight boxe ...

boxer * Alfonso Blanco,

Light Middleweight Light middleweight, also known as junior middleweight or super welterweight,PeBoxRec/ref> is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing The light middleweight division (also known as junior middleweight in the IBF or super welterweight in the WBA an ...

prospect * Felipe Campa, former WBC Youth World

Super Bantamweight Super bantamweight, also known as junior featherweight, is a weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . There were attempts by boxing promoters in the 1920s to establish this weight class, but few sanctioning organizations o ...

Champion * Francisco Contreras, Lightweight contender *

Jesus Cuellar Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...

, former WBA Fedelatin

Champion *

, world champion in four weight classes and former ''Ring Magazine'' pound for pound fighter * Irving García, Lightweight journeyman *

, world champion in four weight classes * Alfonso Gómez, competitor on '' The Contender'' * Evgeny Gradovich, former IBF Featherweight Champion *

Joan Guzmán Joan Guzmán (born May 1, 1976) is a Dominican former professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2014. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the WBO super bantamweight title from 2002 to 2005, and the WBO junior lightw ...

, former two divisions WBO World Champion * Jesús Antonio Hernández, lightweight prospect * Egidijus Kavaliauskas, established former amateur and welterweight title challenger *

Steven Luevano Steven "Steve" Luevano (born March 3, 1981) is an American former professional boxer who held the WBO featherweight title. He was trained by the former IBF Super Featherweight Champion Robert Garcia. He is remembered for his success inside th ...

, former WBO World Featherweight Champion; made five successful defenses * Marcos Maidana, former WBA

Welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

Champion and former WBA Light Welterweight champion *

Abner Mares Abner Mares Martínez (born November 28, 1985) is a Mexican-American professional boxer who also works as a boxing analyst and commentator for Showtime. He has held multiple world championships in three weight classes, including the IBF banta ...

, current WBA regular featherweight champion *

Antonio Margarito Antonio Margarito Montiel (born March 18, 1978) is a Mexican-American former professional boxer who competed between 1994 and 2017. He held multiple welterweight world championships, including the WBO title from 2002 to 2007, the IBF title in ...

, former two-time World Welterweight Champion *

Hernán Márquez Hernán Márquez Beltrán (born September 4, 1988), commonly known by his nickname "Mike Tyson, Tyson" Márquez, is a Mexican professional boxer. He held the World Boxing Association, WBA flyweight title from 2011 to 2012, and has challenged onc ...

, former WBA World

Flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing above 49 kg (108 lb) and up to 51 kg (112 lb). Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of b ...

Champion * Hanzel Martínez,

Bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from bantam chickens. Braz ...

boxer; brother-in-law of Antonio Margarito *

Victor Ortíz Victor Ortiz (born January 31, 1987) is an American professional boxer and film actor. He held the WBC welterweight title in 2011, and was formerly rated as one of the world's top three active welterweights by most sporting news and boxing web ...

, former WBC welterweight champion * Victor Pasillas, undefeated Featherweight prospect *

Kelly Pavlik Kelly Robert Pavlik (born April 5, 1982) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2000 to 2012. He won the unified WBC, WBO, ''Ring'' magazine and lineal middleweight titles by defeating Jermain Taylor in 2007, and made thre ...

, former Lineal

Middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have beg ...

ChampionRafael, Dan. (2011-01-02
Dan Rafael Blog – ESPN
Espn.go.com. Retrieved on 2012-05-17. *

Manuel Quezada Manuel Quezada (born October 13, 1977) is an American professional boxer and former kickboxer. In boxing he fights at heavyweight, while in kickboxing he fought at both heavyweight and super heavyweight. Amateur Kickboxing Career Quezada won th ...

Heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wor ...

journeyman * Marcos Reyes, Middleweight boxer * Brandon Ríos, former WBA World Lightweight Champion *

Marco Antonio Rubio Marco Antonio Rubio (born June 16, 1980) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 2000 to 2015. He held the WBC interim middleweight title in 2014, and challenged twice for a middleweight world title in 2009 and 2012. Professio ...

, former WBF World

Super Middleweight Super middleweight, or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing In professional boxing, super middleweight is contested between the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, in which boxers can weigh between 160 pounds ( ...

Champion *

Erik Ruiz Erik Ruiz (born March 10, 1992) is an American professional boxer trained by former world champion Robert Garcia. Personal life Erik Ruiz is the uncle of undefeated prospect Andrew Ruiz. Professional career On June 3, 2011, Ruiz beat Shaun ...

, Super Bantamweight journeyman *

Mia St. John Mia Rosales St. John (born June 24, 1967) is an American professional boxer and former World Boxing Council (WBC) champion in the super welterweight division. She is also the IBA and IFBA lightweight champion. She is also a model, businesswoman, ...

, former WIBA, WIBF Lightweight, and WBC Light Middleweight Champion * Mark Suárez, former WBO NABO Welterweight Champion *

Fernando Vargas Fernando Javier Vargas (born December 7, 1977) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2007. He was a two-time light middleweight world champion, having held the IBF title from 1998 to 2000, and the WBA title from 2001 ...

, former two-time World Light Middleweight Champion *

Brian Viloria Brian Viloria (born November 24, 1980) is a retired American professional boxer of Filipino descent. He is a former unified WBA and WBO flyweight champion, as well as a former WBC and IBF light flyweight champion. His nickname of "The Hawa ...

, former WBC and IBF

Light Flyweight Light flyweight, also known as junior flyweight or super strawweight, is a weight class in boxing. Professional boxing The weight limit at light flyweight in professional boxing is 108 pounds (49 kilograms). When New York legalized boxing in 1920 ...

Champion *Joshua Franco, current WBA Super Flyweight Champion * Jesse Rodriguez, current WBC Superweight Champion *

Anthony Joshua Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua (born 15 October 1989) is an English professional boxer. He is a two-time former unified world heavyweight champion, having held the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO titles twice between 2016 and 2021. At r ...

, former two-time WBA

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...

, IBO

Professional boxing record

References

External links

RingTV poll: Trainer of the Year: Robert Garcia
by ''The Ring'' magazine {{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Robert Living people 1975 births American boxers of Mexican descent Boxers from Los Angeles Sportspeople from Oxnard, California World boxing champions International Boxing Federation champions World super-featherweight boxing champions American boxing trainers American male boxers Featherweight boxers Super-featherweight boxers Sportspeople from Ventura County, California