Alex García

Alex García (born December 2, 1961) is a retired Mexican-American boxer, who competed from 1987 to 2005 in the heavyweight division, best known for his short but nevertheless outstanding amateur career in 1986, and later to be a contender in the 1990s.

Early years García grew up in San Fernando, California. First, he was a pitcher and shortstop playing in kid leagues. Then, he was an all-league middle linebacker at San Fernando High School. Later he became a gang member, and eventually served five years in California state prisons at Soledad, San Quentin and Chino, for involuntary manslaughter after stabbing a rival gang member. "It was my best fight," said Garcia in the understatement of the tournament. Longtime amateur boxing people called Garcia's performance a surprise. William Pendleton of the U.S. Amateur Boxing Federation board of governors said of his performance at the nationals: "Here was a guy who came in totally from the cold and won the gold medal." He was training for the world championships in a parking garage converted into a boxing gym at the Sands Regency Hotel in Reno. to losing the final to Teófilo Stevenson, winning the silver. Stevenson, a veteran of international boxing, age 35, with a 20-year-long career, won for the 301st time, knocking down Garcia, whose amateur record stood 17–2. "Winning by a knockout is just like a baseball player hitting a home run," said Stevenson after he knocked out García. "I want to fight him again. I want to redeem myself," said García after his defeat in the hands of Stevenson. García claimed he never lost in hundreds of street fights. "I always wanted to box, but I just never took the time to go into the gym and train; I was having too much fun on the streets," he said to the press. "There are some things you can't coach. He's got natural athletic ability. He's got durability, heart, power and he's come along real fast. When we went to the world championships, a lot of guys came up to me and asked me how many fights he'd really had. They couldn't believe he'd only fought 18 times and he was fighting for the gold medal in the world championships with that few fights," said his coach Rodriguez. He soon fought at the 1986 USA−USSR boxing duals, where he fought Vyacheslav Yakovlev (who also lost to Stevenson at Reno by majority decision,) in a match-up on July 26, and exhibition bout on August 2, losing him twice in a row, both time by unanimous decision. "I told myself I was going to become a fighter, going to stick with it. It was a big adjustment getting out (of prison). You get institutionalized, get out of the habits of normal life. Although I wanted to be a boxer, I never thought I'd come this far this fast," said García on his progress.

Loss

KO 3 05/04/2005

Win

MD 8 07/12/1999

Win

TKO 1 07/08/1999

Win

TKO 2 29/08/1997

Loss

UD 12 18/04/1995

Win

TKO 3 18/11/1994

Win

UD 10 01/09/1994

Win

UD 10 24/05/1994

Loss

UD 12 01/03/1994

Win

PTS 10 20/01/1994

Win

PTS 10 18/12/1993

Loss

TKO 2 20/08/1993

Draw

SD 12 27/07/1993

Loss

TKO 2 08/06/1993

Win

TKO 12 20/04/1993

Win

TKO 1 27/03/1993

Win

TKO 5 16/02/1993

Win

UD 12 08/12/1992

Win

TKO 8 23/11/1992

Win

TKO 2 27/10/1992

Win

TKO 2 22/09/1992

Win

KO 2 10/08/1992

Win

UD 10 02/07/1992

Win

KO 2 27/05/1992

Win

KO 6 04/03/1992

Win

TKO 2 11/07/1991

Win

KO 1 23/05/1991

Win

TKO 3 22/03/1991

Win

TKO 2 09/10/1990

Win

TKO 1 07/05/1990

Win

TKO 4 27/03/1990

Win

TKO 2 08/01/1990

Win

KO 4 13/11/1989

Win

UD 10 24/10/1989

Win

KO 7 29/08/1989

Loss

TKO 8 29/11/1988

Win

KO 1 29/07/1988

Win 10–0

KO 2 23/06/1988

Win 9–0

KO 2 27/05/1988

Win 8–0

KO 3 24/03/1988

Win 7–0

KO 2 12/11/1987

Win 6–0

UD 6 29/08/1987

Win 5–0

UD 5 09/07/1987

Win 4–0

KO 1 18/06/1987

Win 3–0

KO 1 28/05/1987

Win 2–0

UD 4 24/02/1987

Win 1–0

KO 1 06/02/1987