Vasquez’s Prospects Look Promising in Moonlight : His Second Job as a Fighter Continues to Move Him Closer to Contention for a State Title

Richard Garcia has seen a lot of inspired kids walk into the Westminster Boxing Club, and he has seen almost as many disillusioned ones walk out a day or two later.

Garcia remembers the day Johnny Vasquez confidently walked in and said he’d like to learn how to box. Garcia never figured Vasquez would last five days, much less five years. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine Vasquez would become the most popular fighter in the Irvine Marriott boxing show’s 11-year history, or that Marriott promoter Roy Englebrecht would sign Vasquez to an exclusive contract to keep him away from other promoters.

“I didn’t think he’d ever get this far,” Garcia said. “He was awkward and he stood up too straight. He’d get hit a lot. He didn’t really have the style to be a pro.”

Vasquez, 27, still doesn’t have the classic style and he still gets hit too often, but he has a few qualities that fans and promoters love and trainers can’t teach--charisma and heart. The minute Irvine fans saw Vasquez unleash a wild flurry and take a hard combination on the chin, they fell in love.

After his first pro fight, a knockout of Pablo Barrios, Vasquez collected $250 in small and large bills from appreciative fans who loved Vasquez’s spirit and the nonstop action. Vasquez won five of his next seven fights, four by knockout, and bills keep flying into the ring afterward, win or lose.

After his last knockout victory, Vasquez took the microphone from ring announcer Danny Valdivia and thanked his legion of fans for being so generous. Vasquez split the money with his opponent, Boni Lara, as is common.

“It was like something out of a Rocky movie,” Englebrecht said.

Tonight, Vasquez will fight Jesus Jimenez in the first bout of his three-fight contract with Englebrecht worth a base of $5,000. Jimenez, of Guadalajara, is 8-10-3. Tonight’s semi-main event is scheduled for six rounds. His next two fights are scheduled for eight rounds.

If Vasquez wins all three, Garcia said he and manager/trainer Gonzalo Garcia will try to get Vasquez a minor title bout, probably a fight for the California bantamweight title. Maybe then Vasquez could move out of his parents’ Huntington Beach house and quit his day job at Nautilus Imports, which designs and manufactures sea coral artifacts.

For now, Vasquez will continue to wake up at 5 a.m., run five to eight miles along the beach, work at Nautilus Imports from 8 to 4, then train at the Westminster gym from 5 to 7.

“Right now, boxing’s a hobby,” Vasquez said. “I’m just seeing if things go good for me.”

He admits it’s going better than he could have possibly imagined.

“I just tried it out to get out some frustration . . . experience it and see what it’s all about,” he said.

Vasquez didn’t put on gloves until he was 22. He says he was inspired by boxer Mike Semaza of Orange, who also recently signed an exclusive agreement with Englebrecht.

“I went and saw Mike fight and I just loved his energy and the way he fought,” Vasquez said. “So I came into [the gym] to see if I could do that too. My older brother used to beat on me, toughen me up. I always wanted to be able to handle myself. I don’t know, but I kind of knew that I had it in me if I just tried it “

Vasquez tried boxing as an amateur for 2 1/2 years. He was 15-7 and traveled to Tahiti and Idaho as a member of a U.S. Amateur Boxing team. But Vasquez, already 25, felt the years slipping away and decided to turn pro.

Two of his first three fights were either near disasters or huge successes, depending on whom you talk to. The Irvine Marriott crowd loved it because they love a good brawl, but Vasquez’s three trainers, brothers Gonzalo and George Garcia and Richard Garcia (no relation to the other two), weren’t happy at all.

“George was upset with [Vasquez] because he wasn’t responding to what we taught him,” Richard Garcia said. “I had guys telling me he should quit. But he showed us he was tough, so we decided to keep working with him.”

Vasquez, nicknamed “Chispita” by other Westminster fighters because of his quick, spark plug-like style, admits he was a slow starter.

“I was in awe those first couple fights,” Vasquez said. “I got hit in the head a lot. I’d get in there and get frustrated. I wasn’t thinking.”

But Vasquez never thought of quitting. His father taught him early in life to be persistent if you want something bad enough. At 16, Vasquez was sick of his paper route so he applied for a job at Nautilus Imports in Mission Viejo. Vasquez was turned down on his first two visits, but David Vasquez told his son to keep trying.

“They said they had no work for me,” Vasquez said. “But I went in there four or five times and finally they said, ‘I guess you want to work.’ ”

Vasquez is still working for Nautilus Imports 11 years later, but he is now a partner in the company.

“Once I dedicate myself to something, whatever I is, I stick with it,” he said.

Richard Garcia says Vasquez’s persistence is beginning to pay off in the ring.

“The ability to know he can knock somebody out gave him the willingness to learn how to box,” Garcia said. “I think those last two knockouts have changed his whole way of thinking.”

Fighting opponents his own size also has made it easier to knock out people. In his first five or six fights, Vasquez was constantly facing boxers who would weigh in at 120 and enter the ring a day later at 122, Meanwhile, Vasquez was usually fighting at 116.

But in his last two bouts, Vasquez has gone down to fight at his more natural weight of 115 pounds. And now, Vasquez is usually heavier than his opponent and his punches have more impact. He also has begun to duck a few more punches.

“He’s learning,” Richard Garcia said. “He can see what’s coming at him more.”

Richard Garcia works with Vasquez on his footwork and defense. Gonzalo is more of a punching specialist and George teaches the science and technique of boxing. Three trainers for a 27-year-old club fighter?

“He needs four trainers,” Richard Garcia jokes. “I know it’s strange, but three trainers have given him three aspects of boxing that he wouldn’t otherwise have. You could say it’s confusing, but it works.”

It’s working surprisingly well for Englebrecht, who has made a fair amount of money off Vasquez’s eight fights.

“He was a local kid who wanted to sell tickets to his friends,” Englebrecht said. “A promoter loves that. A kid who’s polite with a nice smile stands out in boxing game. And with Johnny, you know he’s going to give you a lot of action. That’s what club fighting is all about--an entertaining fighter with a personality is invaluable.”

So invaluable that Englebrecht didn’t want to lose Vasquez to the Forum or The Pond; representatives from both arenas inquired about Vasquez’s services. And suddenly this hobby that Vasquez began almost as a lark is turning into a business.

“It’s no longer a sport, it’s a business,” Richard Garcia said. “If you can get yourself into the top 10, you can make some money.”

But first Vasquez will have to prove he’s more than just a showman.

“His next fight will be an eight-rounder,” Richard Garcia said. “He’s jumping into the fire real quick.”

Will he get burned?

“I don’t know,” Vasquez said. “I’m taking this step by step. But if things go well, I may consider doing this full time.”

Boxing notes

International Boxing Federation Continental heavyweight champion Obed Sullivan (10-1-1) of Mesa, Ariz., who knocked out Levi Billups March 30 at the Marriott, will fight Martin Foster (11-8-1) of Belle Plaine, Kan., in the 10-round main event. Junior welterweight Mike Walsh, also from Westminster Boxing Club, will fight a six-rounder against Omar Pacheco of Sonora, Mexico. Tickets are on sale for the card, which begins at 7:30, at the Marriott for $25 to $35.