BOXING : Dilapidated Olympic Still a Home to Garcia

The dressing rooms at the Olympic Auditorium look like the inside of a World War II bunker. The ceilings, walls and floors are cut of bare concrete. Single, dim light bulbs hang from worn cords. Some rooms feature a battered chair or table. Most are barren, dank.

The rest of the arena is in no better repair. The stands reek of what can only be called, in kindness, tradition. Decades of tradition. Tradition apparently gone undisturbed, uncleaned and unpainted since the place was built 60 years ago.

But maybe the Olympic, located just south of downtown Los Angeles, symbolizes what boxing should be. Nothing fancy or glamorous. The building, like many of its fighters, displays the scars of battle.

This is where San Fernando boxer Alex Garcia has chosen to make his home. Garcia is embarking on a career as a professional boxer. The former national amateur super-heavyweight champion has the credentials to fight at the Valley’s tamer Country Club, or even the modern, cleaner Forum. But he is a favorite of the mostly Hispanic crowds that frequent the Olympic. His manager, Blinky Rodriguez, is playing that for all it’s worth.

So, when Garcia boxed at the Olympic last week, 1,000 autographed snapshots of the heavyweight were offered at the door. The 5-by-8 glossy photos bore the Spanish inscription (roughly translated): “Say hello to all my friends. Long live Mexico.”

And as the fighter entered the ring wearing a sombrero, “The Lonely Bull” blared from the arena’s public address system.

“There’s a certain side of entertainment to the fight game now. I think it’s good for the fans,” Rodriguez said. “We feel that Alex is special and the fans that are coming out to see him should get a little extra.”

In true Olympic style, one of the doormen entrusted to distribute photographs of Garcia tried to sell them for $1--to Rodriguez’s wife. And after Garcia had decisioned Andre Smith in five rounds, Smith appeared in Garcia’s dressing room and offered to fight again--right then and there, without gloves.

“There is something special about this place,” Rodriguez said.

These days, the Olympic draws meager crowds to weeknight club fights. There are no televised, championship bouts there. But Rodriguez dreams of signing WBC and WBA heavyweight champion Mike Tyson to a title fight with Garcia at the Olympic someday.

Mike Tyson at the Olympic?

Well, they might have to promise the champ his own chair, and the best dressing room--the one with a door.