He was in London at the weekend to corner his fighter Evgeny Gradovich in his (unsuccessful) defence of the IBF 126lb strap against Lee Selby – and following that TD loss, Robert Garcia has spoken to fighthype.com to voice any concerns he has about making Brook/Rios in the UK, hinting that contractually there are already a number of things he doesn’t like – even going so far as to question the neutrality of British officials – and even the ringside doctor!
Never shy, Garcia said;
“Brandon wants the fight, we want the fight too but there’s already a few little things that I’m not liking. First of all they told us we wouldn’t be able to wear the (Everlast) MX gloves. They said the commission in London or England, whatever (BBBofC) – that they’ve pretty much banned those gloves. I think that’s just ’cause of us, ’cause they know what we wear and they’re worried.”
“There’s a few other things but the rest (long time manager) Cameron Dunkin will handle. You know the money, the TV all that. You know they already started off (with an offer) very low, but that Cameron’s job – to make Brandon happy.”
Speaking about the fight and of Brook himself, Garcia said;
“He’s very strong and very talented. He’s big, ripped – he’s tremendous but I don’t think he’s ever been hit like Brandon will hit him you know? He holds, he’s smart, he knows his tricks but you can’t fight like that with Brandon. Brandon will throw punches from everywhere, especially those uppercuts.”
“I don’t think he’ll hang with Brandon for 12 rounds. But it’s a fight everyone’s talking about. They’ve already brought it to us and we’re looking forward to it if it happens.”
With all due respect to Garcia and Rios, Brandon has seen far better days, is pretty one dimensional and would most likely end up getting stopped late against Brook. He’s durable but that’s the only quality I see him bringing to a fight with ‘The Special One’.
He defends with his face and that means it’s likely he who won’t hang with Brook for 12 rounds for me. He will be picked off and left to hit thin air all night as the stronger Brook gradually wears him down. It seems like a pretty obvious prediction that….
However, Garcia is defiant – and given his experiences cornering Gradovich this past weekend, he said;
“Everybody that goes over there (UK) worries. Look at what happened to Beltran (controversial draw with Ricky Burns) and even in this last fight with Gradovich – we were losing, I’m not saying we were winning and I’m not saying the fight would have been any different, but we still had four and a half rounds left. The last 4 rounds could have been Gradovich’s rounds. What if he landed a good shot?”
“The cut wasn’t big enough to stop the fight. He wasn’t even bleeding when they stopped the fight. But the doctor obviously knew that if we stop it, it goes to the cards ’cause it was a headbutt, and who’s ahead on points? – their champion. Hey that’s something I might probably do in my corner or something like that but NOT the doctor who is supposed to be neutral.”
“That cut wasn’t even big, it wasn’t bleeding and it wasn’t doing anything so I think they stopped it a little bit premature but I’m not saying anything would have been different.”
Glad you realize that Robert. Selby boxed a masterclass. The rest just sounds like sour grapes to me.
Twitter @Undilutedpoison
