LAS VEGAS – Bob Santos still has high hopes for Elijah Garcia as the young middleweight prospect looks to bounce back from his first loss.

Garcia is 16-1 (13 KOs) and linked up with Santos after losing to Kyrone Davis in 2024.
The 21 year old was being trained by his father, George, who is still involved, but he makes his debut with Santos when he fights Terrell Gausha at the Mandalay Bay on Saturday.

Santos is encouraged by what he has seen in the gym, and he has gone back over the Davis fight with his charge.

“He’s young, right?” Santos explains. “Little inexperienced at that time. If you think about the fact of guys that he beat at 19, 20 years old, he’s only 21 years old. So, Kyrone Davis jumped up a weight class on short notice, fought [David] Benavidez, went eight, nine rounds with Benavidez in a different weight class, so he’s obviously a solid fighter, a 21-year-old kid... 

“I think we got [Garcia] in a whole different mindset. I think we made a couple changes and I think he’s the best young middleweight in the sport. Time is gonna prove that out. I’m watching it every day in the gym and everybody’s gonna see the difference Saturday night. He did a lot of things well, but we made some changes. Not huge changes, but we made some changes, and it’s gonna come to fruition Saturday night and they’re gonna be surprised. Gausha has never been stopped.”

Gausha, 24-4-1 (12 KOs), has boxed the WBC champion Carlos Adames, the WBA champion Erislandy Lara, and Tim Tszyu.

“He’s been in there with everybody, and we’ll see how he does with us Saturday night, but I think I have the best young middleweight in the world,” Santos went on. “Of course it’s a work in progress, fight by fight, but I think we made some significant changes that are gonna pay dividends and we’re just gonna keep building off that and capitalizing off that.”

Santos is excited by the prospect of seeing what Garcia can do, and he said that Garcia was one of the few talents he’s taken on the pads and right away thought he had the potential to be special. In that way, he reminds him of others he has worked with.

“I knew that with Robert Guerrero; I knew that when I first worked with Joel Casamayor, obviously a gold medal winner, you know the difference between guys that are on the verge,” he said. “I liken boxing to baseball. There’s single A, double A, triple A, and then there’s the major leagues. You’re a hell of a player just to be in a single A, but the major leagues, obviously we know the New York Yankees, the Dodgers, it’s a whole different ball game than being in a single A, but I know he has the capabilities of being in the major leagues. 

“There’s no doubt in my mind he’s gonna win a world championship, and the fans know this about me – I always give it straight. If I don’t see it a certain way, I’m not gonna say it or I wouldn’t work with you.”

Adames has just retained his WBC belt with a draw against Hamzah Sheeraz. IBF and WBO champion Janibek Alimkhanuly has two of the titles, and Lara has the WBA belt.

The middleweight division has been waiting for a star, and Santos believes he might have him.

“There’s no doubt he has the ability to be that guy,” said Santos. “Obviously we gotta go prove it in the ring and opportunities will give us those chances to do it. We’re fighting Gausha. He just fought Carlos Adames. He had a very close fight with Carlos Adames, and I think we’re gonna go out there and I think we’re gonna beat him in a better fashion than the middleweight champ of the world just did, and it’s gonna prove to everybody we’re on that level and, at that point, who’s gonna be willing to step in the ring with us? Because I'll put him in with any of the middleweight champions right now.”

Gausha lost to Adames on the night Garcia was defeated by Davis. And in defeat by Davis, Santos believes Garcia will have learned valuable lessons.

Santos was working with a featherweight Robert Guerrero in 2005 when “The Ghost” lost a split decision but six months later Guerrero avenged the defeat with a sixth-round stoppage win.

“It wasn’t the case that Gamaliel Diaz was better than us,” explains Santos. “He was better that night. He had more experience that night. We went and did another fight in between.

“We prepared for Gamaliel Diaz again, and we stopped him in six rounds. And that’s what I like in Elijah Garcia now. He’s getting much more experience. He’s under the tutelage with me alongside his dad, but I bring a wealth of experience. You know, I’ve been very fortunate enough to have worked with Ronnie Shields; worked with Emanuel Steward; worked with Joe Goosen, who was a huge mentor to me. 

“And I can bring that experience to him. And I think those little changes that we’ve made are gonna pay significant dividends. The Kyrone Davis fight, if we happen to fight him again, I feel confident we’re gonna beat him. The kid’s only getting bigger, better, stronger, and more cerebral every day in camp with me.”

Of course, the detractors will say that the southpaw Garcia has hit his ceiling. But Santos recognises that is one of the ills the sport must confront, and that fighters should not be condemned with a loss.

“I think that’s the one thing we gotta do is change the culture,” Santos says. “Floyd Mayweather did what he did [retiring undefeated]. He’s one of the all-time greats. It’s fantastic. Everything worked out for him, but I always tell people, ‘Don’t tell me your record, tell me who you fought, when you fought him, and how you fought him, and when the time frame was’, right? 

“That being said, I think we gotta get the fans to realize, get behind your fighter, win, lose, or draw. If you stay behind the fighter as fans, we’ll get the fights that we wanna see much more often. Guys won’t be afraid to go against each other, and I think that’s one thing we gotta change in the culture of boxing.

“But Elijah was like 20, 21 years old [when he lost]. How many guys could do what he was doing at 20, 21 years old? He beat [Amilcar] Vidal, you know what I mean? That was a top-10 guy. He beat a lot of quality guys.

“He had [Jose Armando] Resendez. It was a very, very tough fight.

“Take things into perspective with a grain of salt, and like I said, Robert Guerrero with Gamaliel Diaz – same thing. We were like 20; 21 years old. Diaz had all the experience, and then we did one fight in between and we fought him again. Was he the better guy? You were the better guy that night, but we proved in the rematch when we starched him in six rounds who truly was the better fighter, and I think over time, Elijah Garcia’s gonna prove that out just like Robert Guerrero did.”