On August 20th, Roger Gutierrez (26-3-1) will defend his WBA world super featherweight title against Hector Luis Garcia (15–0) at the Seminole Hard Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The bout will be part of a Premier Boxing Champions on Showtime telecast that is headlined by the return of Adrien Broner against former champion Omar Figueroa.
Before the fight was officially announced, there were rumors that the fight would take place in Gutierrez’s homeland of Venezuela.
Garcia told BoxingScene.com that there wasn’t ever an offer on the table to go Gutierrez’s backyard and that he could care less where his fights take place.
“The fact that the fight won’t happen in Venezuela shouldn’t be an excuse. Where a fight happens and those details are out of my control. I am a boxer and as a boxer my responsibilities are to prepare myself physically and mentally to face any fighter at any location. If you look up my record in my amateur career, I beat several international fighters in their own backyard so why wouldn’t I be able to do that with Roger Gutierrez?” Garcia stated.
Garcia put himself into position to fight for a world title when he upset heavy favorite Chris Colbert in Las Vegas in February. Colbert entered the fight as high as a 50-1 underdog at some sports books. He dropped Colbert once in the fight on the way to a dominant unanimous decision victory.
After defeating the flashy Colbert, Garcia is very confident heading into his showdown with Gutierrez. While he respects his opponent, he doesn’t see anything special and expects to put on a master class performance.
“I think that Gutierrez has a style that many other fighters have and there is nothing that sticks out. However, he is a champion for a reason and like every boxer out there, he deserves his respect,” Garcia told BoxingScene.com.
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