One can only imagine how crammed Robert Garcia’s Google Calendar appears.
A glimpse of it arrived last week when BoxingScene ventured to Garcia’s newly opened gym in Moreno Valley, California, where the Boxing Writers Association of America 2024 Trainer of the Year was in the process of supervising back-to-back sparring sessions featuring former unified 140lbs champion Jose Ramirez and lightweight title contender Raymond Muratalla.
Minutes later, during an interview with Muratalla, Garcia approached to say goodbye.
“Gotta get to Las Vegas,” he announced, where he cornered co-main-event welterweight fighter Lindolfo Delgado and unbeaten featherweight prospect Albert “Chop Chop” Gonzalez to victories on a Top Rank show.
Garcia, a former junior lightweight world titlist, previously relocated the Robert Garcia Boxing Academy in his seaside hometown of Oxnard, California, to rural Riverside, California, where roosters and horses frolicked outside the metal building reached by a dirt road.
Garcia’s gym bulged, however, as Ramirez was joined by the brightest of boxing talent, including unbeaten junior bantamweight champion Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez and unbeaten WBC interim junior middleweight belt holder Vergil Ortiz Jnr.
In a fateful development, Garcia was approached by Oliver Olivares, a local contractor and boxing fan residing in the Inland Empire portion of Southern California, who expressed his interest in constructing what has become a 6,500-square-feet boxing gym attached to a Moreno Valley movie theater and mall.
Olivares didn’t charge Garcia to build the facility, telling the trainer he would like to further develop a merchandise business to accompany the building and perhaps take another location to Texas and other spots nationally.
The gym is a community beacon, providing an outlet for youth looking for a productive way to spend hours that might otherwise go to waste.
“[Olivares] did everything from his heart. It was meant to happen,” Garcia said. “With no obligation, no contract, we had a vision, and it turned into what you’re seeing now. It almost looks like a museum.”
Inside the air-conditioned facility that opened a few weeks ago are large photos and posters showcasing the rich history and current talent of the Garcia roster, along with virtual Hollywood Walk of Fame stars listing the names of the Garcia-trained greats: Fernando Vargas, Marcos Maidana, Brandon Rios, Antonio Margarito.
There are three regulation boxing rings situated inside the venue, with 24 heavy and barrel punching bags, along with five speed bags and several other conditioning devices dotted throughout to maximize boxing fitness.
During the Friday session, more than 30 fighters ranging in age and experience were busily tending to their craft under the watchful eyes of Garcia and his staff, who include his father, Eduardo; four-division champion and brother Mikey; and Robert’s sons.
“To come off being named Trainer of the Year and get off to this start this year [Ortiz posted a significant triumph over former WBA titlist Israil Madrimov on February 22 in Saudi Arabia and Ramirez is heading into the high-profile May 2 Times Square card against former two-division champion Devin Haney], it’s been great, and now the rest has to be carried on by my fighters winning,” Garcia said.
Garcia said the additional space was necessary after previously squeezing his fighters into the smaller Riverside venue that is being converted to youth-baseball batting cages.
“They come here now, and they get a boost of extra energy, especially when they see all the great competition that is available here. … You’ve seen it: There’s no sparring [session] that’s mismatched,” Garcia said. “It can’t get any better for them.”
Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.
