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 autho ...

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 Y ...

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

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, 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 west ...

, and was trained by his father Eduardo Garcia at the La Colonia Youth Boxing Club. 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 championshi ...

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 anc ...

, Japan. 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 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, t ...

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. 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. Molina ...

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

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 20 ...

, 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 IBF super featherweight title from 199 ...

. After a win over title contender

Sandro Marcos Ferdinand Alexander "Sandro" Araneta Marcos III ( , , ; born March 7, 1994) is a Filipino politician who is the representative of Ilocos Norte's 1st congressional district since 2022, and the eldest of three sons of Philippine President Bon ...

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 Super Featherweight 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 ...

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 Christopher Mark Algieri (born March 2, 1984) is an American professional boxer and former kickboxer. In boxing he held the WBO junior welterweight title in 2014 and challenged for the WBO welterweight title later that year; in kickboxing he wa ...

, former WBO World Light Welterweight 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 ...

boxer * Alfonso Blanco, Light Middleweight prospect *

Felipe Campa Felipe Campa (born 13 January 1979) is a Mexican professional boxer. He was one of the first ever boxers to be trained by World Champion https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Miller Robert Garcia. Pro career On 6 November 1999, Campa upset t ...

, former WBC Youth World Super Bantamweight Champion * Francisco Contreras, Lightweight contender * Jesus Cuellar, 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 Alfonso Salvador Gómez Becerra (born October 28, 1980), better known as Alfonso Gómez, is a Mexican former professional boxer. Gomez is best known for being a competitor on the debut season of reality TV show '' The Contender'', where he fi ...

, competitor on '' The Contender'' *

Evgeny Gradovich Evgeny Pavlovich Gradovich ( rus, Евгений Павлович Градович; born 7 August 1986) is a Russian former professional boxer who competed from 2010 to 2017, and held the IBF featherweight title from 2013 to 2015. Amateur car ...

, 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 light ...

, 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, 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 "Tyson" Márquez, is a Mexican professional boxer. He held the WBA flyweight title from 2011 to 2012, and has challenged once for the WBA interim super flyweigh ...

, 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. B ...

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, former Lineal Middleweight 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 ...

, Heavyweight journeyman * Marcos Reyes, Middleweight boxer *

Brandon Ríos Brandon Lee Ríos (born April 29, 1986) is an American professional boxer. He held the WBA lightweight title in 2011 and has challenged once for the WBO welterweight title in 2015. Nicknamed "Bam Bam", Ríos was known for his aggressive pressur ...

, former WBA World Lightweight Champion * Marco Antonio Rubio, former WBF World Super Middleweight Champion * Erik Ruiz, Super Bantamweight journeyman *

Mia St. John Mia Rosales St. John (born June 24, 1967) is an American professional women's boxing, 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, ...

, 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 200 ...

, 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, former two-time WBA Heavyweight,

Heavyweight, WBO Heavyweight, IBO Heavyweight

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