The fight wasn’t great, the bout was uninteresting, but it is historically really important, and boxing in Northern California the past two-years has been a barren wasteland. 

As we currently seemingly have only two local promoters constantly putting on shows, those being, Toscano Boxing Promotions, and Uppercut Promotions,  as Paco Presents Boxing and Squarevision Entertainment, have not held a show in a great while. 

With that absence has also been a media presence. Top Rank fought in Oakland, awhile back. Beyond that not much. 

Yet the homecoming was ruined by the unknown Sandor Martin, who missed the memo to lose. Martin fought an inspired fight, as a southpaw who was about as easy to catch as a slippery squid. Ringside I thought Garcia still edge the fight, but it felt uninspired and that Martin brought out a lot of the potential flaws Garcia had on that given night. 

The outcome didn’t just shock the fans, or the fight world, it also seemed to be a big letdown for Montana Love, who was announced as a Matchroom fighter during this fight week, and sat ringside for the bout. Probably hoping to get Garcia in his next bout, I would assume. 

Is this the end for Garica, I don’t know. I think he has made a ton of money, guys like Sandor Martin just don’t get his full attention anymore, and that’s what we saw. Garcia still makes good fights with big name fighters, but now Martin becomes someone who will fight a name at the top of the division, and it is all, because of a bout in California. 

Honorable Mention

Wade Jones vs. Edgar Ramirez – A back-and-forth fight that in a single round saw both guys go down only for Ramirez to not get up. Jones, who lost his last bout via KO, stayed composed and shock off demons to right past wrongs in his first fight in his hometown of Stockton, California.