Garcia Stays Unbeaten With 5-Round Win

Alex Garcia went to school at the Olympic Auditorium on Thursday night. He passed the class, but it wasn’t easy.

The San Fernando heavyweight remained unbeaten in five professional fights, winning a unanimous decision over San Diego’s Andre Smith after five tough and sometimes frustrating rounds.

This was the most difficult test of Garcia’s young career. Although Smith (8-1) had been inactive for two years the previously unbeaten southpaw fought an awkward style that perplexed Garcia early.

While Garcia repeatedly missed his punches Smith scored with flicking jabs and left leads.

Faced with this puzzle, Garcia went back to basics. The 6-2, 217-pound fighter dug lefts and rights to the body of his shorter, lighter opponent.

“I knew he was gonna be a little awkward. He was moving a lot,” Garcia said after the fight. “I was just staying patient.”

His patience paid off. Slowly, Garcia took control of the fight.

A Smith left opened a cut over Garcia’s left eye in the second round. Garcia responded in each of the next three rounds by scoring combinations to the head after setting his opponent up with body blows.

Still, Smith never backed down.

“He had a good jab and as soon as I came in he’d shoot the jab so I’d know he wasn’t hurt,” Garcia said.

In the end, Garcia’s consistent pressure was too much for the San Diego fighter.

It was Garcia’s longest fight. Three of his four previous fights were first-round knockouts.

The extra work was just fine with Garcia. “You learn something from a fight like this,” he said.