Tonight in San Manuel Casino, the place so close to LAX that Manny Pacquiao proclaims it on a massive banner before you head to Baggage Claim, fellow Filipino Bernabe Concepcion hopes to mend the broken pieces of a once-promising career.
Meanwhile, two hours south in San Diego, his opponent is taking the trip to Highland with his own personal redemption in mind. Like Concepcion, Aaron Garcia was a hot commodity many moons ago. Armed with an accomplished amateur career and a bonus baby contract from Golden Boy Promotions, somehow ?El Gavil?n? let it all slip away.
Now rejuvenated in his third return to the professional ring, the 29-year-old Garcia (10-2-2, 2 KOs) has upset on the brain, and his last two outings indicate that he?s going to be a pretty tough out for Concepcion (28-5-1, 15 KOs), a former two-time world title challenger.
?It feels good to be back,? Garcia said after upsetting Alejandro Lopez in February and a controversial decision loss to Abraham Lopez two months later. ?I?m excited and I?m ready for tonight.?
Garcia?s boxing biography begins in Vista, Calif., when he took up the sport around the age of seven. In contrast to his brothers who one by one would bow out and pursue other interests, he became enamored with boxing.
?I loved it because I learned that it?s not just about hitting or brawls,? he said. ?It?s the science. While my brothers ended up not liking it, to me it was very easy to pick up.?
The interest developed into a passion, and the passion germinated into an obsession with winning. By the time Garcia?s amateur days were over, he had gone roughly 130-20, rising to the top of the USA Boxing rankings at both the 119 and 125-pound divisions.
?With Jorge Padilla training me, I won the Junior Golden Gloves, the U.S. Nationals, National Golden Gloves, you name it,? he recalled. ?I was 16, 17 years old fighting all these grown men in the Open Division. After winning the National Golden Gloves in Syracuse at 119 pounds, I felt like I could do anything.?
Soon, Golden Boy came calling and Garcia was quick to sign on the dotted line. However, after starting 7-0, a jarring third-round stoppage loss to Saul Ochoa meant the end of his stint with the promotional juggernaut.
?They dropped me right after the loss to Ochoa,? he remembered. ?Honestly, I had a headbutt so I couldn?t see. Then Ochoa started throwing flurries. Joe Cortez waved off the fight with blood coming from my face.?
Unable to cope with the defeat, Garcia began to fall out of love with boxing, and it led to his first two-year stretch away from the sport.
?I started struggling after that,? he said. ?I had problems finding fights. It was depressing. I stopped training at times. I had a lot of distractions and outside the ring. I took the loss really bad. I was used to winning all my life. I had to think about what I would do, so I stepped away for awhile.?
