Garcia Knocks Off Rust, Knocks Out Crawford

Alex Garcia was rusty. No question about it.

An abscessed tooth had sidelined the San Fernando heavyweight for three months, a long period of inactivity for a boxer accustomed to fighting at least once every 30 days.

The affect of the layoff was evident at the start of his scheduled four-round bout Thursday night against Tony Crawford of San Diego at the Olympic Auditorium. Garcia needed a wake-up call.

A minute into the first round, he got it--a sharp left from Crawford that opened a cut over Garcia’s left eye.

Less then a minute later, Garcia responded with a devastating right hand that sent Crawford crashing into the ropes, dazed and unable to continue. Referee Lou Filippo stepped into to signal the end of the fight at 1:57 of the opening round.

“He woke me up,” Garcia said of Crawford. “It felt good to get in the ring and feel those butterflies going again.”

It was the third win and the second knockout for the undefeated Garcia, who won the national amateur super heavyweight title before turning professional in February. Crawford’s record dropped to 1-2.

“It was a nice, beautiful right with some nice thunder on it,” said Blinky Rodriguez, Garcia’s manager. “Alex put him in the ozone.”

Over in the other locker room, Crawford didn’t agree.

“The ref stopped it too soon,” said Crawford. “He didn’t give us a chance to go at it as warriors. It was a real misjustice. I know this is a hometown crowd and they’ve got high hopes for the guy, but don’t mess with another guy’s career.”

Filippo wouldn’t buy any of it.

“He was hurt,” the referee said of Crawford. “I had to almost carry the guy back to his corner.”

Garcia won’t have long to wait for more work. Rodriguez has tentatively agreed to put his fighter back in the Olympic ring on June 18 in a five-round bout against an undetermined opponent.

“Alex once fought 10 times in seven weeks in his amateur days,” Rodriguez said. “He’s got the right attitude and he loves to fight.”

Once he’s awake, that is.