Outside The Ring BY PAULINE VU Published on: March 29, 2003 When his son was younger, Roberto Garcia, a former World Junior Lightweight Boxing Champion, tried unsuccessfully to lure him to the gym. One time, knowing his son's hatred of both the gym and hamburgers, he even threatened him: go to the gym or eat hamburgers. "Dad," his son replied, "I'd rather eat hamburgers." It wasn't that Garcia wanted his son, also named Roberto, to follow in his footsteps and become a world-class boxer. It was more important that the son know where his father came from. "I just wanted him to come to the gym and learn how I grew up," said Garcia, 27. "Just to see the way kids work out, what I had to do. I wanted him to learn something different instead of being home and playing Nintendo." A few months ago 'of his own free will' 8-year-old Roberto came to the gym and began working out. Today, he may come with his father to the Yuma County Youth Boxing Association's Ringside Challenge, along with 15 other young boxers from La Colonia Boxing Club of Oxnard, Calif. Garcia is pleased about his son's newfound interest in boxing, but the truth is, he doesn't want him to become a boxer. "It has a lot of nice moments, but it's a hard sport," he said. "The hardest part was staying away from home for training camp and then the diet, especially when you have a weight problem and you have to lose 10 to 15 pounds before a fight. I wouldn't want to see my kids go through that." Garcia even remembers the exact moment he decided to quit: midway through the second round of the fight against John Trigg last year. "Even during (the bout) I thought to myself, 'What am I doing in here?' " he recalled. "I didn't want to hurt my opponent. My heart wasn't really into the fight." Garcia ended up with a fourth-round knockout, his first win after the first three losses in his career, but it didn't matter. The most important person that he had to tell was his father, the man who had the most influence on his career. Eduardo Garcia's first taste of boxing came in the shows the priests in the Mexican region of Michoacan ran to raise money for the church. When he came to California, he honed his knowledge visiting boxing clubs and watching professionals train after a day's work in the strawberry fields. That's where Eduardo got the knowledge to eventually become a trainer to both his son and Fernando Vargas, a close family friend and the former holder of two junior middleweight titles. At the news of his son's retirement, Eduardo's response, as it has been all along, was support. "He told me that if I wanted to fight he was going to support me but that he didn't want me to fight," Roberto said. "I know right now if I was to tell him, ‘Dad, I want to fight again,' he'd support me, but he doesn't want me to." Eduardo has been there for the highs, like the victory over Harold Warren in March 1998 for the International Boxing Federation Junior Lightweight Title. For a time Roberto was considered the second-best boxer in his division, second only to Floyd Mayweather Jr. And he has been there for the lows, like when Roberto had his first-ever loss and had to give up his title to Diego Corrales in Oct. 1999. Roberto went back to his corner, upset, and Eduardo came to him and said, "We celebrated 32 of your victories. It's time for someone else to celebrate." Then Eduardo led Roberto to Corrales' corner. "I felt bad because I lost my title but at the same time, we celebrated 32 times, so I was happy with what I did," Garcia says now. "We lost to a great champion so there's nothing to be ashamed of." Roberto still gets a chance to celebrate as a trainer. In addition to the neighborhood kids, Garcia also trains three professionals. His best prospect is Mia St. John, a former Playmate of the Year, whose professional record is 5-1. Her only loss came late last year to Christy Martin, who with a 45-2-2 career record is one of the most successful names in women's boxing. Predicted to last less than three rounds, St. John instead fought Martin all the way through 10 rounds to a decision. "Even though she lost, to me, that was the biggest win she ever had," Garcia said. "After the fight a lot of people thought she had won, but they gave Christy Martin the fight. We respect that, but I thought we won." Asked what he learned most from boxing, Garcia's answer was discipline. It's what he hopes to teach his sons. "Because that's what it takes to become a world champion. You don't have to be the greatest fighter in the world, you just have to have skills and be dedicated," he said. "Not only in boxing. If you want to be a doctor, you could be very smart but if you don't have discipline to open the books and dedicate yourself to the career, you'll never make it." © Copyright 2003 YumaSun.com