Garcia Tries to Find Himself After Losing Championship Belt

Robert Garcia learned the hard way all that eye-of-the-tiger stuff is true. One thing Garcia knows for sure--he was a better contender than champion.

Now, he’s trying to change that.

“Every champion loses,” Garcia said. “Every champion has to come back.”

Add Garcia to the list of boxers on the comeback trail, former champions struggling to rekindle their fire and reestablish themselves among the ranks of formidable fighters.

For Garcia, 30, a product of Oxnard’s La Colonia Youth Boxing Club and former IBF junior-lightweight champion, the roadwork is underway at the Big Bear training facility of Fernando Vargas, the IBF junior-middleweight champion and Garcia’s childhood friend.

Garcia and Vargas first laced up oversized boxing gloves as boys under the tutelage of Eduardo Garcia, Robert’s father and longtime trainer of both.

Vargas, 19-0 with 17 knockouts, will defend his title Aug. 26 against an opponent to be determined at The Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas and is inching closer to a multimillion-dollar fight against Felix Trinidad in the fall.

Garcia’s next career move is uncertain. Undefeated in his first 32 fights, Garcia has lost two consecutive bouts, including a 10th-round technical knockout against Ben Tackie on June 3 in Las Vegas.

Garcia appeared in control before Tackie recorded a surprising knockdown in the final round and the fight was abruptly stopped.

The loss might have derailed Garcia’s plans for a possible matchup against WBA champion Joel Casamayor, a stablemate of Garcia under promoter Dan Goossen of America Presents.

“The fight was mine,” Garcia said. “I just got tagged.”

Garcia attributed his performance to laziness, the same flaw he says cost him his title against Diego Corrales last October.

Garcia entered his third title defense out of shape and overconfident. That led to being him being knocked down and finished off in the seventh.

Garcia, who won the title in 1998 with a 12-round decision over Harold Warren, has not won since earning a 12-round decision over Juan Molina in Las Vegas in January 1999. It’s been even longer since he felt the burning desire to win he feels now.

“When I got to be champion, things started changing a little,” Garcia said. “I stopped watching my diet and didn’t train like I should. My dad knew I was having a problem, but I was champion. I didn’t think there was anybody who could beat me.

“That happens to a lot of fighters. That’s what happened to me.”

Garcia will need at least one tune-up bout before being considered again for a title match. An opponent under consideration is Steve Forbes of Las Vegas, who is 14-0.

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Lance Whitaker doesn’t appear to lack motivation for his July 21 bout against Dave Dixon on the undercard of the David Tua-Robert Daniels fight at the Regent Las Vegas.

Whitaker, a 6-foot-8 heavyweight from Granada Hills, and Dixon, 6-5, from Los Angeles, had to be restrained after exchanging barbs at a press conference Wednesday.

Chalk it up to the theater of boxing, though it was uncharacteristic of Whitaker, whose soft-spoken style belies the image of a pugilist. Rarely during a four-year career in which he has built a 20-1 record with 17 knockouts has Whitaker engaged in a war of words with an opponent.

This time, Whitaker took exception to alleged remarks by Dixon, 21-3-2 with 19 knockouts, that he floored Whitaker during a sparring session last month.

“There’s a rumor going around that you knocked me down,” Whitaker said. “Well, I’ve got three words for you, brother: You’re dead meat.”