Garcia Needs 3 Punches, 28 Seconds to Beat Fill-In

It can take awhile to introduce San Fernando heavyweight Alex Garcia. You have to mention that he was the national amateur super-heavyweight champ before turning pro in February. And that he was 3-0 with two knockouts before his scheduled four-rounder Thursday night at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles.

It took ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr. about 30 seconds to mention all that.

Which is two seconds longer than it took Garcia to fight .

His opponent, William Campudoni, in his first pro fight, struck the first blow, a left jab.

Garcia came back with a jab of his own. Then a right uppercut. Then a left hook.

And that was it.

Welcome to boxing. And goodby!

The 204-pound Campudoni went down and out at 28 seconds of the first round.

“I caught him early,” said Garcia, who weighed in at 216 3/4 pounds. “But I’ll be back in the gym tomorrow and ready to fight again in three weeks.”

It wasn’t as if Campudoni, a Redondo Beach resident, wasn’t used to taking punches. He’s been working as a sparring partner for heavyweight champ Mike Tyson. And Tyson has yet to knock him down.

“We were originally going to fight Campudoni,” said Garcia’s manager, Blinky Rodriguez. “But then we heard that he was real rugged, that he had been working with Tyson. So we didn’t really want to fight him. When you don’t know about a guy, you have to be a little leery.”

When Garcia’s scheduled opponent, Dominique Parker, dropped out Monday, however, Campudoni was back in.

For 28 seconds.