Passion for boxing drives Garcia in Gloves participation
Banker has been involved with amateur boxing tourney for 10 years
Jo Ann Garcia caught the bug for the Sweet Science at an early age. It has germinated into a love for boxing that isn’t going to perish.
“Boxing is a passion,” Garcia said. “I just love it.”
Garcia, 55, is the head of officials at the 74th annual Corpus Christi Regional Golden Gloves Boxing Tournament at the Valencia Building. She can judge fights, keep the time of the bouts and perform the clerical duties involved in helping run the amateur event. She is a member of the Kiwanis Club of Corpus Christi Bay, the franchise-holder for the event, and has been involved with the Gloves for 10 years.
Her roots in boxing run deeper than a decade, though. At age 6, while her father coached the sport while in the Marines, Garcia wanted to participate in the sport. Being the watergirl and holding a spit bucket was not her idea of participation, however.
“‘No, dad, I don’t want to do that,’” Garcia told her father. “‘Well, what do you want to do?’ I said, ‘I want to get in the ring.’ So I trained and got in and I started boxing ever since.”
A 26-year veteran of Kleberg Bank as assistant vice president and loan processor, Garcia has been a Kiwanian for 15 years. While she boxed for six years, it took a while for her to reacquaint herself with boxing.
“Well, actually what got me back into it, when I started working at the bank, they wanted their officers out in the community,” said Garcia, who hopes soon to add referee to her resume. “Go find a club, an organization. They wanted us to be involved with, so that’s what I did.
“Actually, this young man, James Spruce, he was in the organization before I was, and he said, ‘You know, she may like this sport,’” she said. “Perfect, I love boxing. I love it. Ever since then I was in it. It’s in my blood.”
Thus began her association with the Kiwanis Club and the Gloves. Garcia’s work and participation have come while she cares for her husband of four years, Eleno, who has been battling Dementia for two years.
But through all of that, Garcia has had an infectious effect on the rest of the volunteers, said Isaac Valencia, a Kiwanian and operator of The Valencia, the venue for the Gloves.
“I’m amazed by her. She's a member of a service organization, she has her full-time job and she’s caring for her husband at home,” Valencia said. “This lady has a heart of gold that she is always there at a dime being dropped, a call being made.
“I just know that for someone to be able to do all that, then carry the load of the job and support an organization like this, that’s stellar,” Valencia said. “That’s top of the line of someone who has the heart of gold and commitment like that. She’s like one of the driving forces.”
Garcia isn’t alone. In addition to Spruce, who handles the Kiwanis Club’s finances, Valencia relays a list of key contributors to the effort to stage the tournament, including: retired dentist Henry Casias; retired architect Juan Gomez; retired Marine George Saenz; and insurance agent Greg Mendoza, who performs the National Anthem prior to the start of action. The list also includes former Nueces County probation officer Eddie Gonzales, who has returned to the Club, as well as new members such as accountant Roland Hicks.
“It’s like a family. It’s like my dad said, that was his mantra, treat everyone like family,” Valencia said of his father Silverio, the late city businessman for whom the facility is named. “That’s what this is, it’s a big family, and it’s not just the Kiwanis, it’s the parents of the boxers, it’s the boxers. It’s the fans coming in here.”
And one particular fan who has been coming isn’t going away anytime soon.
“No, never,” Garcia said. “Unless the good Lord wants to take me. Other than that, I’m here to stay.”
FRIDAY’S RESULTS
Pee-wee — 75: Dominic Grande, CCPAL, dec. Damien Fuentes, Neighborhood Boxing Club; Evan Richards, Victory, dec. Arnulfo Gonzalez, No Limit; 106: Dominic Lopez, Two Countries, dec. Noah Arreola, No Limit; Andy Luis CCPAL, dec. Elijah Ramirez, Neighborhood; Christian Rodriquez, CCPOA, dec. Ramon Suniga, Azteca Warriors, split; 125: McArthur Perez, Heart of Champions, dec. Eric Garcia, CCPAL.
Novice — 141: Isacc Garcia, Weapons at Hand, dec. David Gonzalez, Baltazar; Ben Edwards, CCPOA, dec. Osiel Armenteros, Baltazar, split; 152: Johnathan Ramirez, DMP, def. Artavuis Richardson, CCPAL, RSC-2, 1:20; 165: Jesus Ventura, Heart of Champions, dec. Juan Guerrero, CCPOA; Luis Flores, Kingsville, dec. Eric Biele, Weapons at Hand.
Open — 132: Jose Bernal, Hinojosa BC, def. Lorenzo Garza, CCPOA, RSC-2, 1:47; 141: vs. Fabian Navarro, Kingsville, dec. Marcus Garcia, Hinojosa, split; 152: Luis Lopez, Heart of Champions, def. Quindale Falkner, CCPOA, walkover; Ysrael Barboza, CCPOA, def. Juan Cardenas, Delgado’s, RSC-2, :29; 178: Mark Beuke, Victory, dec. Christopher Rodriquez, Beeville.
SATURDAY’S CHAMPIONSHIP BOUTS
Junior female — 120: Candice Fernandez, Neighborhood, vs. Liliana Martinez, Heart of Champions.
Junior — 125: Carlos Lopez, Neighborhood, vs. Felipe Moya, CCPOA.
Novice — 108: Hector Cantu, unattached, unopposed; 114: Miles Rodriquez, unattached, unopposed; 123: Andrew Jones, Kingsville, unopposed; 132: Patrick Haro, CCPOA, vs. Daquan Dawson, CCPOA; 141: Isacc Garcia, Weapons at Hand, vs. Ben Edwards, CCPOA; 152: Johnathan Ramirez, DMP, vs. Ricardo Casarez, J.C. Pittbull; 165: Jesus Ventura, Heart of Champions, vs. Luis Flores, Kingsville; 201: Ruben Longoria, Victory, vs. Nicolas Sanders, CCPOA; Super heavyweight: Abraham Johnson, Kingsville, vs. Bryant Montgomery, No Limit.
Open — 108: Tomas Iruegas, J.C. Pitbulls, unopposed; 114: Christian Perez, Neighborhood, vs. Joe Angel Martinez, Tuff-E-Nuff; 123: Alejandro Yarra, unattached, unopposed; 132: Jose Bernal, Hinojosa BC, vs. John Torres, No Limit; 141: Fabian Navarro, Kingsville, vs. Gerardo Barboza, Azteca; 152: Luis Lopez, Heart of Champions, vs. Ysrael Barboza, CCPOA; 165: Damien Guajardo, Kingsville, vs. Mark Trevino, Azteca; 178: Mark Beuke, Victory, vs. Luis Valladares, DMP; Super heavyweight: Walter Krauser, Weapons at Hand, vs. Juan Garza, CCPOA.
NOTE: Open-class winners advance to the state tournament March 1-4 in Fort Worth