By Rick Reeno
MGM Grand, Las Vegas - Trainer Robert Garcia rarely has the luxury of an easy day at the office. But on November 8th at the StubHub Center in Carson, Garcia will have a very tough task at hand when his fighter Marco Antonio Rubio (59-6-1, 51KOs), the WBC's interim-middleweight champion, challenges unbeaten WBA/IBO king Gennady "GGG" Golovkin (30-0, 27KOs) in an HBO televised main event.
Golovkin has displayed very few flaws in his game, but pound-for-pound champion Andre Ward, and veteran trainer Freddie Roach, believe Golovkin is a very hittable fighter with a shaky defense.
"I agree with that too," Garcia told BoxingScene.com. "I'm not saying that because Freddie Roach said it or Andre Ward said it - I talked to my dad [Eduardo Garcia] and my dad has a lot of knowledge, and every time my dad has watched Triple G fight, he's always said that 'he's tough, he has a great future but he's very hittable and once someone backs him up and hits him - you never know what kind of response he's going to have.'
"And all of the opponents who go in there, they go in with that fear, with that mentality of 'oh, I'm fighting Triple G.' We're trying not to let that happen. Triple G could catch [Rubio] in the first round, hurt him and knock him out. He's done that to many other opponents. This time around we are training hard. Rubio has to be prepared to take some hard punches but he also has to pressure him, back him up, take him into the later rounds. And then who knows what happens when Triple G starts getting hitting too. Those short punches, those uppercuts, what if Triple G starts swelling up. He's never been cut. You never know what kind of response he is going to give once he gets hit by a true 160-pounder who also hits hard."
Garcia wants his fighter to succeed where many others have failed, by taking Golovkin into the later rounds. If Rubio is able to do that, Garcia feels good about their chances to score a big upset.
"That's our plan, we have to be protective, have good defense, but we're going to have to take some punches. And if my fighter is able to do that, I like our chances in the later rounds," Garcia said.
