MORENO VALLEY, Calif. – Their bond is immense and unforgettable.
Sealed in their memory banks are the nights that Robert Garcia’s plans of aggression were executed fully by Marcos “Chino” Maidana, smashing down the trash-talking Adrien Broner to the delight of boxing fans across the globe, with the fighter and trainer then sharing those fulfilling minutes one fight later when they believed they’d defeated Floyd Mayweather Jnr.
That was more than a decade ago.
These days, Garcia and his former muse Maidana are assigned to another big fight – against each other.
Garcia is busy in Southern California training his two-division and unified super-flyweight champion Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, 22-0 (15 KOs), for his November 22 unification bout in Saudi Arabia versus WBA 115lbs champion Fernando Daniel “Puma” Martinez, 18-0 (9 KOs), of Argentina.
Maidana promotes and manages Martinez, 34, and a few years ago, when Rodriguez’s brother, Joshua Franco, wore a super-flyweight belt, Maidana goaded his trainer, telling him, “I’ve got the fighter who’s going to beat your champion – and his brother, ‘Bam,’” Garcia recalled this week in an interview with BoxingScene.
Garcia, of course, has relayed that story to Rodriguez for “extra motivation.”
The 25-year-old pound-for-pound occupant – he places himself sixth behind Terence Crawford, Oleksandr Usyk, Naoya Inoue, Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev – insists he’s ready to set those emotions and the past aside while recording a convincing victory over Martinez.
“I saw a little clip of [Maidana saying] that. It doesn’t mean anything to me. It’s just words. Talk is cheap,” Rodriguez said. “It’s not the first time someone’s talked trash, and whenever they talk trash, the beating is worse.”
Yes, the person saying things this time is Maidana. Rodriguez watched his Broner and Mayweather fights and cheered on the Argentine and Garcia.
“It doesn’t matter. Full respect to ‘Chino’ Maidana. He’s a great fighter, a great champion, but it’s Fernando Martinez who has to get in the ring on fight night. So I’ll show him with my fists,” Rodriguez said.
Garcia, who also previously coached Argentina’s Jesus Cuellar to a world title, has engaged in multiple interviews from the Argentina media asking what it’s like to be one of the nation’s most favored trainers taking on a native son and the beloved Maidana.
“It’s a friendly rivalry, not personal. He gave me likely my best victory, over [Adrien] Broner, we did big things with him and will always be friends. Us getting together for a fight this big is nice,” Garcia said. “It’s stuff like this – this connection – that makes boxing exciting. Now we’re going against them.”
Garcia is prepared to be training a fighter who has been schooled by the echoes of some of his own lessons, certain that Maidana’s guidance has influenced Martinez’s back-to-back unanimous-decision victories in 2024 and earlier this year against Japan’s former four-division champion Kazuto Ioka.
Garcia expects Maidana to be staring at him from the opposing corner as Rodriguez’s most important bout yet unfolds on a loaded card that includes unbeaten light-heavyweight champion David Benavidez’s WBC title defense against Anthony Yarde and WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jnr defending his belt against two-division champion Devin Haney.
Even as those stakes rise to unprecedented levels, Rodriguez said he is locked in on keeping his effort focused and simple.
At Tuesday’s workout at Garcia’s gym, Rodriguez was accompanied by his toddler and pregnant girlfriend, whose due date is one day before the fight.
He grinded through the shadowboxing and mitts session with Garcia – pressing the trainer to extend their time from five to eight rounds – and then brought smiles from his visiting family before their return soon back home to San Antonio.
“I never stress about the future. I always say to myself, ‘One day at a time.’ And it’s the same with boxing: ‘One fight at a time,’” Rodriguez said. “As far as the management or business side, I let Robert handle that. I’ve trusted Robert since I’ve been 15. I know he has me in the best position possible. ‘Puma’ Martinez is the main focus now.”
What most concerns him about Martinez?
“Nothing, I’m not worried about anything. It’s any other fight,” Rodriguez said. “It’s not talking trash. It’s my confidence. I know what I’m capable of. I watched his fights against Ioka. It’s me being 100 percent confident in my abilities.”
Rodriguez is riding a four-fight streak of stoppages, against the likes of champions Sunny Edwards, Juan Francisco Estrada and former 115lbs champion Phumelela Cafu.
Now, he ventures to Saudi Arabia to fight before powerful boxing financier Turki Alalshikh, who is lavishing upon Rodriguez his greatest purse yet with the promise of more riches with possible future opponents Willibaldo Garcia [the IBF’s 115lbs champion], former bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani and undisputed 122lbs champion Naoya Inoue all due in Saudi Arabia for a late-December card.
“To think where I started – Mexico City, Tijuana, some small fights at home in San Antonio … to see it transition to today is mind blowing and goes to show how much work I’ve put in,” Rodriguez said. “Hard work can get you anywhere. I know it’s a cliche thing to say, but I’m living proof of that.”
It’s why Rodriguez isn’t getting bogged down in the sentimental Garcia-Maidana reunion.
His own rise means far more.
“I’m always going to be the person I am from when I started. My parents told me to stay humble and stay focused. No amount of money will change the type of person I am,” he said.
“This goes to show how far I’ve come, how hard I’ve worked. There’ll be days I’ll be sitting in my house and think how boxing has changed my life and given me the funds to support my daughter, my girl, my parents. Supporting my brother and I in boxing is the reason my parents went broke. The fact I can give back to them by paying their bills, that’s better than anything else. Better than any world title. For what they’ve done for me, to bring me to the position I am today, that means the world to me.”
As unbeatens Inoue and Nakatani stand as prohibitive favorites in their December cards and appear bound for a spring showdown in Japan, Rodriguez will be pointing to Garcia and an undisputed super-flyweight showdown in the first half of 2026 should they both win their upcoming bouts.
“I’m only two fights away from being undisputed. This is the closest I’ve ever been. I’ve been making weight easily. Why not go for it?” Rodriguez said. “I’m in a good position right now. I just need to take it – like I said – one fight at a time.”
Previously, there was talk that Rodriguez could move up to bantamweight to fight Nakatani in November, but the momentum for the all-Japan showdown halted those negotiations. The expectation is now that Rodriguez can meet the Inoue-Nakatani winner in late 2026.
Who wins the Inoue-Nakatani bout?
“It’s a hard fight. They both pack a punch. Whoever lands a clean punch first will hurt the other and win the fight,” Rodriguez predicts.
That’s something Rodriguez intends to accomplish versus Martinez – something trainer Garcia endorses.
“So many great memories between me and ‘Chino’ – we’ll always love each other, but now we have to hit each other. During the fight, I’m going to do what it takes to win,” Garcia said. “After the fight, I was going to say we’ll go grab a beer. But there’s no beer in Saudi.”
