Thursday, June 12, 2003 | 8:43 a.m.
There's no questioning Julio Garcia's determination and fortitude. How could you, knowing he came to the United States on a raft?
Garcia, 28, is a native of Cuba who escaped the island, battled the sea and its elements, and made it to Florida with four comrades some nine years ago. His next stop was a destination with its own risks: Despite never having been a boxer, he set out for Las Vegas with the goal of becoming a professional fighter.
Today he's 24-1-2 with 10 knockouts and is headlining a Saturday card at the Stratosphere, where he'll take on Canada's Bryon Mackie in a 12-round fight at 154 pounds.
"Nothing compares to what I've already been through," Garcia said Wednesday at the Nevada Partners gym. "There was a lot of pressure on us, being on that raft. There was definitely a fear that we were going to die."
Although not ranked among the top 10 junior middleweights by any of the three major organizations, Garcia would seem to be on the verge of breaking through. He has had some television exposure, including a TKO-5 victory against Johnny Rivera April 12 in Miami, and is known to be a good action fighter with improving skills.
"I'm going to be a world champion," he said. "I'm still learning, but right now I know I can fight the best."
Where Mackie fits into the equation is anyone's guess. He's 21-8 with a mere five KOs and is so obscure that even Garcia has been unable to land a tape of him.
"Whatever he brings, I'll be ready but I don't know anything about him," Garcia said. "But I do know you can't always go by a fighter's record. He doesn't have many knockouts, but someone looking at my record would say the same thing about me.
"They might say, 'He must not be able to hit hard,' but what they wouldn't know is that I didn't have any amateur fights and I'm still learning how to hurt you in the ring."
Eight years ago when Garcia moved to Las Vegas and walked into Nevada Partners, he came in cold.
"That was tough," he recalled with a smile. "I said, 'I want to be a fighter' because it looked like a way to make some money, but there are a lot of good fighters here and they weren't going to give me any breaks.
"I had to immediately step up."
He continues to work his way up the ladder.
"In another year he's definitely going to be ready (to fight for a world championship)," said his trainer, Danny Smith. "I've had Julio for three fights and I'm impressed.
"We've got a beautiful foundation to work with. Here's a guy who's tough, whose life has been a struggle, who has a great desire to win, who is never going to be lazy and who will be a student of the game until he retires.
"He knows what he wants from life and knows he's not going to be given anything.
"He's going to be a real hard guy to beat."
All of which would come as a complete surprise to anyone who knew Garcia as he was growing up in Cuba.
"I never thought I was going to be a boxer," he said. "The guys in Cuba don't know me as a boxer, so anyone back there who hears about me now wouldn't believe that it was really me."
They might also be surprised at his command of the English language -- it's close to perfect.
"My girlfriend, who's now my wife, helped me," he said. "It's like boxing -- I'm still learning. But I want to go to school and I always try to improve myself."
If there's anything he needs to elevate his stature in his chosen career, it's probably a fight of some consequence with a perceived equal. Smith mentioned a possible fight with Angel Hernandez, and a fellow Las Vegan, Kofi Jantuah, has expressed an interest in taking on Garcia.
"We've sparred, so I'd know how to fight him," Garcia said of Jantuah. "If there was TV and the money was right, I'd do it."
For now he's plying his trade with one eye on the present and the other on the future.
"I don't have a 'name' and there aren't a lot of guys who want to fight me," he said. "But I know I can be a champion because I learn and listen. I've made a lot of mistakes, but I keep going.
"I have speed and I feel very strong. But I also know I have to work and be prepared for the fight this weekend because right now Mackie is the most dangerous guy as far as I'm concerned."
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