| Luis Garcia | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Real name | Luis Enrique Garcia Campoalegre |
| Nickname(s) | El Leon |
| Rated at | Super Middleweight |
| Nationality | Cuban |
| Born | December 23, 1987 Matanzas, Cuba |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 9 |
| Wins | 9 |
| Wins by KO | 7 |
| Losses | 0 |
| Draws | 0 |
Luis Enrique Garcia Campoalegre (born December 23, 1987 in Matanzas, Cuba) is a Cuban professional boxer who competes in the Super Middleweight division. He moved to Cork, Ireland from Cuba and is trained by Glenn McCrory in Newcastle, England.[1][2]
Contents |
Garcia is a former World Junior Champion who missed out on a place at the 2008 Beijing Olympics to Emilio Correa despite having beaten Correa 13-3 in a contest beforehand. Disillusioned with what he claimed were the politics of amateur boxing that denied him a place in Beijing, Garcia moved to the Irish city of Cork and turned professional with promoter Gary Hyde. Correa himself went on to win silver at the games losing a close decision to Britain's James Degale.[3]
Garcia's first professional bout took place in September 2008 in the city of Cork. He defeated Latvian Martins Kukulis by stopping him in the 3rd round. Following the victory Garcia was featured as a hot prospect by trade magazine Boxing News who said "he has star quality. Timing, balance, footwork, speed of hand and foot, experience, an icy – almost Tyson-like – demeanour and most definitely power to burn."[4] Garcia fought four times in 2009 winning on each occasion including a victory over Nigeria's tough former Commonwealth title challenger Micheal Gbenga[5][6] and a victory on 25 April 2009 saw him beating Argentinian Nestor Fabian Casanova in Cork. The win over Casanova was to prove to be his last outing of 2009 only returning to the ring a year later on 16 May 2010 to defeat Alexander Sipos in Dublin. Garcia described the period as being "very frustrating" after a number of fights fell through.
Along with fellow Cuban boxers Alexei Acosta and Mike Perez, Garcia split from manager Gary Hyde in March 2010 and joined up with Cork businessman Patrick Thomas who in turn linked up with Irish promoter Brian Peters in an attempt to re-invigorate their careers.[7] On 11 June 2010 on a show in Belfast he recorded his second win under his new management defeating Welshman Nathan King in the fifth round of a scheduled six [8] and then only a few weeks later on 26 June 2010 defeated the American Demetrius Davis back in Cork. On 11 September 2010 he fought for the first time at the National Stadium in Dublin on the undercard of Brian Magee's European title defence beating Christian Cruz in the 3rd round.[9] On 2 October 2010 he traveled to Letterkenny to defeat Jorge Rodriguez Olivera an Argentinian who boasted a record on 20-1 and on 6 November 2010 made a significant step up in class to stop former World champion Byron Mitchell in the 2nd round at the University Arena in Limerick.[10]