BOXING / THERESA SMITH MUNOZ : Glancing Blow Jolted Garcia Back to Reality

Alex Garcia of San Fernando was the World Boxing Council’s third-ranked contender in the heavyweight division, trailing only Tony Tucker, Evander Holyfield and champion Lennox Lewis.

But Garcia could have been a plumber as far as the public was concerned. At the mall, the supermarket or the movie theater, he was never recognized en route to compiling a 32-1 record with 25 knockouts.

Oddly, a punch by Mike Dixon that grazed Garcia’s temple transformed Garcia into a household name among local boxing fans.

The punch knocked Garcia off balance and eventually onto the apron. Although he got up, his legs had turned to jelly. Dixon (13-8) then ripped off eight punches, two of which caused enough damage for the bout, which was televised on the USA network, to be stopped with eight seconds left in the second round.

Now, Garcia is known as the boxer whose temple proved to be his Achilles’ heel.

“Everybody tells me that it was a lucky punch,” Garcia said. “Since this loss everybody is coming up to me. I’m talking old and young, black, white and Chinese. I don’t understand it.”

Garcia also doesn’t understand how a relatively light punch like Dixon’s could send him reeling. After all, as an amateur, he absorbed punches from one of the hardest hitters in boxing history, Cuba’s Teofilo Stevenson.

“Believe me, that’s the first time something like this has happened,” Garcia said. “I knew I was doing well. I knew this guy wouldn’t beat me. That night he had a better chance of winning the lottery.”

Since the loss on June 8, Garcia has analyzed his mistakes. “If it happens again, I’ll grab the guy,” he said. “A fight like this breaks you or makes you stronger. You gotta have a strong mind to stay in this game.”

Although he considers the blow to his temple a lucky punch, Garcia insists he is giving Dixon his due.

“I am a man,” he said. “I’ll say if it was a powerful punch. And I have to give him credit for finishing me off. I’m always preaching that in the heavyweight ranks one punch can make a difference. And now it has happened to me. It set me back just that night. I came back to the ring the next day.”

Garcia also figures the loss could serve as a wake-up call. “If you’re winning, winning, winning, you can get too much confidence,” he said.

The loss means a longer wait for a title shot. A victory would have almost guaranteed Garcia a fight with George Foreman for a big-money payday, but Foreman also lost, to Tommy Morrison, within the same 24-hour period.

In an effort to give his fighter a shot at redemption, Garcia’s manager, Norman Kaplan, offered Dixon $25,000, three times the original sum, for a rematch, but Dixon turned it down.

Consequently, Garcia’s next foe is James Warring, a former International Boxing Federation cruiserweight champion who moved up to the heavyweight ranks. They are scheduled to fight July 27 at The Riviera in Las Vegas.

Garcia is training 2 1/2 hours daily in the gym, but he hasn’t started sparring yet.

The loss to Dixon still weighs on his mind. And watching the replays has only made it worse. “I sat down to watch it the first time and I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I don’t believe it today.”

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Rafael Ruelas of Arleta, the No. 1 contender in the WBC and the IBF lightweight (135 pounds) divisions, has a mandate to fight either WBC champion Miguel Angel Gonzalez or IBF titleholder Fred Pendleton. Pendleton will fight Jorge Paez on July 17 and the winner must fight Ruelas within 90 days.

Ruelas’ manager, Dan Goossen of Ten Goose Boxing in Van Nuys, said they will choose between the WBC and the IBF mandate depending on which deal pays more.

In the meantime, Ruelas will try to keep sharp by fighting July 29 at the Irvine Marriott against an as yet unnamed opponent.

Ruelas’ brother, Gabriel, the WBC’s No. 2 contender in the super-featherweight division (130 pounds), is hoping for a rematch with WBC champion Azumah Nelson of Ghana. He will have to wait until after Nelson’s next fight, Sept. 10. Gabriel is slowly returning to training after a wrist injury. The cast was removed from his left wrist only two weeks ago.

Heavyweight Rocky Pepeli of Valencia will fight on July 22 in Biloxi, Miss., against Jesse Ferguson, the boxer who allegedly received a bribe from Ray Mercer during a fight several months ago. A victory over Ferguson would put Pepeli in line to fight Mercer--unless, of course, Mercer is busy in court defending himself against bribery charges.

Frank Liles of Sherman Oaks, the World Boxing Assn.’s No. 2 contender in the super-middleweight division (168 pounds), is scheduled to defend his North American Boxing Federation title Aug. 17 against Tony Byrd of San Diego in Las Vegas.

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Omar Flores of Mexico City will take on Mexicali’s Oscar (The Ghost) Lopez in the 10-round main event July 21 at Tony Longval’s Reseda Country Club. Flores, a lightweight (138 pounds), is 24-2 with 16 knockouts.

Lopez, who derives his nickname from his ability to avoid being hit, is 19-6 with 10 knockouts.

The undercard, beginning at 7:30 p.m., features North Hollywood’s P.J. Goossen (8-0, seven KOs) in a six-round, junior middleweight (154 pounds) bout against an opponent yet to be determined. Sugar Shane Mosley (2-0) is slated for a six-rounder in the lightweight (135 pounds) division aagainst Rodney Katz (4-2) of Phoenix.

Lee Tonks (4-2, four KOs), a British native living in Northridge, signed for a four-round, welterweight (142 pounds) fight.

Three boxers are scheduled to make their professional debuts in three-round bouts against as yet unnamed opponents: Eddie Contreras of Oxnard in a featherweight (128 pound) matchup; Damon Sauerberry, a 210-pound national amateur runner-up in the heavyweight division; and Juan Lozcano, a featherweight who recently moved to Sherman Oaks from El Paso, Tex.

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Super-featherweight (130 pounds) Larry Loy of Van Nuys will take on Cocas Ramirez on the undercard Monday at the Forum.