Mikey Garcia’s Second Welterweight Assault Happens Saturday in Texas

Imagine if the Corleone Family of the fictional film “The Godfather” were involved in the prizefighting world. That’s kind of what you get with the Garcias.

Eduardo Garcia heads the Riverside-based boxing family but retired years ago. The day-to-day leadership role now lies in the hands of Robert “Grandpa” Garcia.

Just like the Corleone family the Garcias have their own compound and its army of fighters are geared toward preparing Mikey Garcia (39-1, 30 KOs) for his welterweight assault against Jessie Vargas (29-2-2, 11 KOs) on Saturday, Feb. 29. DAZN will stream the Matchroom Boxing card from The Ford Center in Frisco, Texas.

The Robert Garcia Boxing Academy functions like a daily boot camp with prizefighters arriving and departing Monday through Saturday.

It’s a grinding human factory of fistic proportions that never stops.

It all started in Oxnard, California back in the 1980s when older brother Daniel Garcia became a professional. He was followed by Robert “Grandpa” Garcia who was the first to win a world title in 1998 against Harold Warren. After two defenses he met with Diego Corrales and for seven rounds the two battled as if their life depended on it. It was brutal yet beautiful in its intensity.

After that fight, Corrales, who passed away in May 2007, said to this writer “wasn’t that a great fight?” And then quickly added: “I need a soda pop.”

Years after that fight with “Grandpa” Garcia, the always cheerful Corrales claimed that was his favorite fight.

Mikey

Reluctantly, Mikey Garcia followed into the family business and now serves as the leader of the pugilists and third member of his family to lace up professionally for the Garcia family.

He’s kind of like a Michael Corleone in that it wasn’t his lifetime plan.

“I wanted to become a police officer,” said Mikey Garcia who participated in the police academy. “I wasn’t really sure about boxing.”

Now the third brother of the Garcia clan seeks another division world title to add to his glowing collection. He already captured world titles in the featherweight, super featherweight, lightweight and super lightweight divisions.

It’s an incredible feat that goes unnoticed.

A year ago, the four-division champion was blocked from gaining a fifth division world title by welterweight kingpin Errol Spence Jr.

Mikey refuses to stop now.

“I learned a lot from that fight,” said Garcia, who lost by unanimous decision after 12 rounds to the southpaw Texan. “You always learn from every fight even a loss.”

Despite his father’s slight opposition, Mikey Garcia intends to enter combat with yet another tall welterweight in Vargas.

“I like a challenge,” says Mikey Garcia. “I think I have the ring intelligence to do what I need to get the win.”

The Godfather of the Garcia’s does not agree 100 percent.

“They are too big and too long,” said Eduardo Garcia the father to Ruben, Robert and Mikey Garcia. “I don’t like him at this weight. It’s too big.”

But the father realizes that his son hungers for challenges and is willing to take chances to obtain greater rewards and recognition.

Riverside Stronghold

Ever since the Garcias arrived on February 2010, the family has gained a strong foothold in Riverside, California and become a powerhouse in the boxing world. Mikey Garcia serves as the recognized leader of the more than two dozen prizefighters who train at the hilltop compound daily.

Ten years ago the patriarch Eduardo Garcia ventured to find a new home and one by one his sons followed – first Mikey, then Robert. Daniel still lives in the Oxnard area.

“It started with my dad who was looking at retirement. My career wasn’t anywhere near what it is today. Not knowing I would continue, I had just graduated from the police academy in 2010. I was looking at coming over here and maybe working law enforcement. But I came to follow my dad. He offered me a home.”

“We were already professional fighters and no apparent future and didn’t know where boxing was going for us,” said Mikey Garcia, 32. “I didn’t have much going for me in Oxnard either.”

The Garcias found a local gym that was being used by heavyweight contender Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola and Josesito Lopez. It was brand new and built on a hillside with a spectacular view of Jurupa Valley.

“We started with Indian Willie (Schunke) and later went to P-Town with Angel. At first we were trying to see where boxing would take us. It wasn’t my choice, it was my dad’s. I just followed him and I decided to stick around.”

Indian Willie Schunke was a mainstay in Riverside boxing as a cut man and built the gym with his own finances. But the popular corner man passed away in 2015. The Garcias needed to find another gym and by this time older brother Robert Garcia decided to sell the Oxnard gym and move to Riverside too.

“There was always boxing here with Chris Arreola, Artemio Reyes Jr. was up and coming. So boxing was already here,” said Mikey Garcia. “But now that my brother is based here, we really pushed boxing in the area.”

RGBA, as it is known, has a list of top contenders and prospects that are the envy of almost every gym in the West Coast. Fighters like Vergil Ortiz Jr. Josesito Lopez, Juan Carlos Ramirez, Saul “Neno” Rodriguez, Genaro Gamez and many others exchange punches in sparring and are polished and honed to fight-ready status.

“We rarely spar at other gyms,” said Vergil Ortiz Jr. “They usually come to us.”

All have contributed to Mikey Garcia’s second assault on the welterweight elite.

Jessie Vargas

Though originally raised in Los Angeles, the former super lightweight and welterweight world titlist Vargas lives and trains in Las Vegas, Nevada. Since his first days as a professional he’s always been considered a tough nut to crack.

In the beginning he worked with Roger Mayweather who never wasted time on so-so fighters. Vargas was always seen as a “sure thing.” Now, 12 years later and after impressive outings against Tim “Desert Storm” Bradley, Manny Pacquiao, Humberto Soto and others, the tall and lean fighter faces a much smaller but potent foe in Garcia.

“Mikey Garcia is a talented fighter and a warrior as am I,” said Vargas, 30, who has a five-inch height advantage. “I’m excited. I’m stoked. Can’t wait to get into the ring.”

Garcia realizes you can’t teach height and Vargas indeed has an advantage physically with his reach as well. But that’s the fun of it.

“I think it’s a big challenge for me, a great challenge to compete at welter, but I think I have enough skills and talent to do it,” said Garcia. “I already got a taste and I learned and want to make sure I improve my legacy.”

It’s a legacy that started more than 30 years ago and now Mikey Garcia stands ready to expand the Garcia Empire.

I think I saw this movie before.

Photo credit: Al Applerose

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