The bouts will take place in Puerto Morelos just 30 minutes away from Cancun, Mexico. Robert was first introduced to this promoter back in September 18 of this year when he took one of his hardest hitting middleweights, Alexis Espino to fight a 6 round bout. The location is very intimate and fits less than 50 spectators. The ring is placed next to a pool in a courtyard with a two-story building surrounding it. The bouts will not be televised by ESPN, DAZN or Fox like we are used to seeing most of the talent out of Robert's gym but instead they will be aired live on Facebook via ARB Deportes.
Three boxers will be fighting their first professional bout. Last week I wrote a post about Manny "Baby" Rodriguez of Indio, CA that will fighting somewhere between 147 and 154. He is a southpaw and served as a sparring partner for 4 division World Champion Mikey Garcia. He's had over 100 amateur bouts and has been training for a couple years now with Robert and his team there in Riverside, CA. Next to turn pro is Erik Aguirre of Riverside, CA. He has been in the gym for over a year and served as the main sparring partner for highly ranked contender Vergil Oritiz Jr. in preparation for his fight versus Egis Kavaliauskas. He works full time and uses all his free time to train. He has an older brother that is pro and competes at the super-middleweight division. Last but not least Arturo Cardenas of Sahuayo Michoacan will be making his pro debut after doing several training camps with the team. He is in the lighter divisions and has c0mpeted in sparring against the best the gym has to offer. The team is really excited about his pro-debut, he was originally scheduled to pro-debut on a card in Sacramento, CA on a Toscano Promotions card. I highly suspect that if he pro-debut goes well and he doesn't have any cuts or doesn't take any substantial punishment that he will most likey keep that December date to fight.
Beside having three pro-debuts, Robert has scheduled undefeated middleweight Leo Ruiz of San Bernardino, CA to fight in his 9th pro fight. Leo just like most non signed boxing prospects works full time and doesn't live off of his boxing paychecks. He recalls one of his fights in Rancho Mirage, CA where he actually came out of pocket to fight. The costs for his physical examinations and other fees were higher than his purse. After fighting five pro fights he got in contact with Robert Garcia and started to be associated with him and his team. For Ruiz' sixth pro fight he fought on a Mikey Garcia Promotions event in San Bernardino, CA. San Bernardino is a city about 50 miles east of Los Angeles and had already hosted two previous events by Garcia Promotions. I remember attending the event and recording Leo's bout as he knocked out his opponent in the third round. Since then Leo has continued to stay active working full time and also staying the boxing gym as much as he can sparring the likes of Vergil Ortiz and all other middleweight prospects and contenders Robert's gym has to offer. Since Ruiz' is a free agent and not signed to any big promoter Robert has placed him where he can, he has fought on the undercard of Mikey Garcia versus Jessie Vargas on DAZN and most recently in the Bubble, MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV on a Top Rank promoted event. Leo is a very dedicated athlete and has proven to earn his spot on Robert Garcia's Boxing Academy list of talented boxers. He is currently fighting six round bouts and will be one to look out for in the near future.
Last but not least, to headline the show is Luis "Louie" Coria of Moreno Valley, CA. He was the feature of my last week's blog post and could easily be in the top ten ranking in the featherweight division, in my opinion. His record of 12-5 does not represent him at all and to be honest if he wasn't so well connected both with Robert and Mikey this is where most boxers careers end. They end with a three fight loosing streak but like I mentioned in my post last week, Louie could easily be 16-1 and in contention for a fight with Oscar Valdez, Shakur Stevenson or Chris Colbert. These fights in Mexico can sometimes work backwards and prove to be wars instead of easy grabs down south, but I have faith Robert and Mikey have bright future plans for Louie. He has recently become a father and that might spark a new fire in him but if you've seen any of his last three previous fights, you'd surely agree with me that he fights with passion and courage. Good luck to Louie this weekend and to the rest of the fighters, Leo, Arturo, Erik and Baby in their respective bouts.
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