By John McCormick
Trainer calls Antonio Margarito "a great man"
JM: The controversy surrounding the decision in the Brandon Rios-Richard Abril fight is still lingering throughout the boxing world. What were your thoughts on the fight and the decision? [Editor's note: Garcia trains Brandon Rios, who was awarded a decision victory that most people feel was unjust].
Robert Garcia: It’s boxing. You’re looking back at one performance where Brandon didn’t perform that well and all of a sudden everyone is saying that he isn’t as good as they originally thought he was. Its part of boxing, all we have to do is come back and come back strong. We will not forget that last fight with Rios. I think Abril came in and fought a very good fight with a good game plan. Brandon came to fight though. I really believe it was Abril’s style that didn’t allow us to give the fans the type of fight that they wanted to see that night.
JM: How much of an effect do you think trying but failing to make the 135-pound limit had on Brandon’s performance that night?
Robert Garcia: It had a lot to do with it. After the fight with John Murray in December, me and Brandon both said that he would never fight at lightweight again. Then, the fight with Gamboa came about and Brandon was offered a big payday, so we decided to take it. When the Yuriorkis Gamboa fight was offered, Brandon said “let’s do it.” He then hired a nutritionist who did a great job helping Brandon cut down to 140 pounds, and Brandon was very, very strong at 140 pounds. The last few pounds that Brandon had to lose is what really killed him. We were planning for Gamboa, then he didn’t show up at the press conferences so we didn’t know who were going to fight. So then Abril came up to Brandon at the press conference and made a big scene so we made the fight with him happen. Brandon agreed to fight Abril but he wanted the fight to be at 140 pounds. Then we went back and forth, and Brandon was given the shot at winning the title back so we took it. He believed it would be a good idea to win the titles back that he had lost on the scales in December before moving up to 140 pounds, which makes sense but when your body isn’t complying with what you’re trying to do, there is a problem. I wanted Brandon to fight at 140 pounds but they kept pushing us to take this fight at 135 pounds. Brandon wanted Marquez after Gamboa didn’t show up and we were told that the only way we could get Marquez was if Brandon won the vacant title at 135 pounds against Abril. The last week before the fight, we headed to Vegas and Brandon was 140 pounds and he was still really strong. Once Brandon got down to 138 pounds, he had a real hard time losing those last three pounds. The night before the weigh in, Brandon was inside a steam room, working out in Las Vegas trying to lose those last few pounds. I am not lying about this because Mike Alvarado was there and he was doing the same thing. After two hours of sweating and working out non-stop, Brandon still hadn’t lost anything. The next day Brandon weighed the same and it seemed that his body wasn’t allowing him to lose that weight. At that point we figured we might as well just go to the weigh in, be overweight and get fined. Now were hoping that our next fight is at 140 pounds and hopefully we won’t have these issues anymore.
JM: Alex Ariza, the strength and conditioning coach of Manny Pacquiao and many others has recently stated that he would get Brandon down to 135 pounds and Brandon would be an animal. He then went on to claim that if he couldn’t get Brandon down to 135 pounds his services would be free. What are your thoughts on that?
Robert Garcia: I admire what Alex Ariza has done. Not only with Manny Pacquiao but with Amir Khan and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. as well. He has done a great job with all of those guys and he is definitely one of the best out there at what he does. We would have to see if it could happen but I doubt Brandon could ever make 135 pounds ever again. Even if he could, Brandon would probably be better off at 140 pounds right now.
JM: Abner Mares has recently been making a lot of noise at 122 pounds. What are your thoughts on a possible fight between him and your fighter, Nonito Donaire.
Robert Garcia: Abner Mares is a hell of a fighter and it would be a great fight but I leave that up to the promoters. We have Cameron Dunkin as the manager and he is the best at what he does. But hell yeah, it would be a great fight.
JM: There was recently some rumors that you would no longer train Antonio Margarito. Is there any truth to that?
Robert Garcia: Well, I am not too sure. I love Margarito and he would always have my support because he is a great man and he has been great around my gym. Everybody loves him around my gym. But I haven’t heard from him until a few days ago, and we talked and hopefully I’ll still have a chance to work with him. Margarito is a great person, a great friend, and whether I am training him or not, he will always have my support 100%.
JM: Kelly Pavlik started to train with you recently. How has that been?
Robert Garcia: There is no doubt that Kelly has shown a big difference under working in my gym with me after being off for a year. I think he is better than what I had originally expected after being out for so long. He is already in his third week of training camp for his next fight and he is looking better than ever. I think Kelly is going to come back and become a world champion again.
Follow John on Twitter:* @JMcCormick_BT
Trainer calls Antonio Margarito "a great man"
JM: The controversy surrounding the decision in the Brandon Rios-Richard Abril fight is still lingering throughout the boxing world. What were your thoughts on the fight and the decision? [Editor's note: Garcia trains Brandon Rios, who was awarded a decision victory that most people feel was unjust].
Robert Garcia: It’s boxing. You’re looking back at one performance where Brandon didn’t perform that well and all of a sudden everyone is saying that he isn’t as good as they originally thought he was. Its part of boxing, all we have to do is come back and come back strong. We will not forget that last fight with Rios. I think Abril came in and fought a very good fight with a good game plan. Brandon came to fight though. I really believe it was Abril’s style that didn’t allow us to give the fans the type of fight that they wanted to see that night.
JM: How much of an effect do you think trying but failing to make the 135-pound limit had on Brandon’s performance that night?
Robert Garcia: It had a lot to do with it. After the fight with John Murray in December, me and Brandon both said that he would never fight at lightweight again. Then, the fight with Gamboa came about and Brandon was offered a big payday, so we decided to take it. When the Yuriorkis Gamboa fight was offered, Brandon said “let’s do it.” He then hired a nutritionist who did a great job helping Brandon cut down to 140 pounds, and Brandon was very, very strong at 140 pounds. The last few pounds that Brandon had to lose is what really killed him. We were planning for Gamboa, then he didn’t show up at the press conferences so we didn’t know who were going to fight. So then Abril came up to Brandon at the press conference and made a big scene so we made the fight with him happen. Brandon agreed to fight Abril but he wanted the fight to be at 140 pounds. Then we went back and forth, and Brandon was given the shot at winning the title back so we took it. He believed it would be a good idea to win the titles back that he had lost on the scales in December before moving up to 140 pounds, which makes sense but when your body isn’t complying with what you’re trying to do, there is a problem. I wanted Brandon to fight at 140 pounds but they kept pushing us to take this fight at 135 pounds. Brandon wanted Marquez after Gamboa didn’t show up and we were told that the only way we could get Marquez was if Brandon won the vacant title at 135 pounds against Abril. The last week before the fight, we headed to Vegas and Brandon was 140 pounds and he was still really strong. Once Brandon got down to 138 pounds, he had a real hard time losing those last three pounds. The night before the weigh in, Brandon was inside a steam room, working out in Las Vegas trying to lose those last few pounds. I am not lying about this because Mike Alvarado was there and he was doing the same thing. After two hours of sweating and working out non-stop, Brandon still hadn’t lost anything. The next day Brandon weighed the same and it seemed that his body wasn’t allowing him to lose that weight. At that point we figured we might as well just go to the weigh in, be overweight and get fined. Now were hoping that our next fight is at 140 pounds and hopefully we won’t have these issues anymore.
JM: Alex Ariza, the strength and conditioning coach of Manny Pacquiao and many others has recently stated that he would get Brandon down to 135 pounds and Brandon would be an animal. He then went on to claim that if he couldn’t get Brandon down to 135 pounds his services would be free. What are your thoughts on that?
Robert Garcia: I admire what Alex Ariza has done. Not only with Manny Pacquiao but with Amir Khan and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. as well. He has done a great job with all of those guys and he is definitely one of the best out there at what he does. We would have to see if it could happen but I doubt Brandon could ever make 135 pounds ever again. Even if he could, Brandon would probably be better off at 140 pounds right now.
JM: Abner Mares has recently been making a lot of noise at 122 pounds. What are your thoughts on a possible fight between him and your fighter, Nonito Donaire.
Robert Garcia: Abner Mares is a hell of a fighter and it would be a great fight but I leave that up to the promoters. We have Cameron Dunkin as the manager and he is the best at what he does. But hell yeah, it would be a great fight.
JM: There was recently some rumors that you would no longer train Antonio Margarito. Is there any truth to that?
Robert Garcia: Well, I am not too sure. I love Margarito and he would always have my support because he is a great man and he has been great around my gym. Everybody loves him around my gym. But I haven’t heard from him until a few days ago, and we talked and hopefully I’ll still have a chance to work with him. Margarito is a great person, a great friend, and whether I am training him or not, he will always have my support 100%.
JM: Kelly Pavlik started to train with you recently. How has that been?
Robert Garcia: There is no doubt that Kelly has shown a big difference under working in my gym with me after being off for a year. I think he is better than what I had originally expected after being out for so long. He is already in his third week of training camp for his next fight and he is looking better than ever. I think Kelly is going to come back and become a world champion again.
Follow John on Twitter:* @JMcCormick_BT