Junior lightweight Gabriel Garcia believes he is the best unsigned boxer and is having trouble getting fights, even at regional level.
Garcia, a 23-year-old from Antioch, California, was met with heartbreak ahead of an August 16 homecoming bout in Oakland, California, when he was unable to secure an opponent for the fight card.
Garcia, 12-0 (7 KOs), trains out of the Lion’s Den Boxing Gym in Pittsburg, California. Turning professional in December 2020, Garcia has since defeated Marco Diaz, a fighter with one loss at the time, in 2023 on the Sebastian Fundora-Brian Mendoza undercard in Carson, California. In his next outing, he bettered Joshua Montoya on a Top Rank undercard in Stateline, Nevada. Since then, he has only fought once in 2024 (a six-round decision over Giovanni Gutierrez) and once in 2025 (a first-round stoppage of Armando Frausto in May).
“I feel that I am the most slept-on fighter in boxing,” Garcia told BoxingScene. “I am a dirty diamond still in the dirt. I just need to start shining soon.”
In the past, Garcia had spent time with the Robert Garcia Boxing Academy, where he worked on different elements of his game. Though he hasn’t been back to the camp recently, he credits the experience of being around Garcia for helping him get to where he is.
“I learned a lot there working around top contenders and world champions there,” Garcia said. “I became a seasoned veteran with that experience.”
Garica hopes to find a big opportunity soon in the sport, as it is hard for him to get approval for bouts at the club level of boxing. Garcia, whose moniker is Asesino, which translates to Assassin, hopes to fill that role in the future, taking a fight against a big-name fighter and spoiling their plans.
“It is hard for me to get fights now, because the commissions aren’t allowing me to fight veteran fighters with double the wins and experience that I have,” Garcia said. “It is just a matter of time before these contenders have to take fights with me.”
