In depth with Michigan pro boxer Johnny Garcia
“A family man who appreciates all the support he receives”
Unlike many professional athletes who take things for granted and believe they are entitled to wealth, fame and privilege, Juan “Johnny” Garcia understands that it takes a lot of help from family, friends, community and others to make it in professional boxing. Johnny is very appreciative of all the support he receives and he does receive plenty. Johnny is a young 29 year old boxer. He hasn’t taken a lot of abuse in or out of the ring. He doesn’t drink alcohol, he doesn’t do drugs, he doesn’t smoke and he doesn’t party in the typical sense of the word. Johnny’s typical party involves running around Chuck-E-Cheese chasing his 3 year-old son Jordan and holding his 9-month old daughter Aliah. Johnny loves to spend time with his wife, Perla, to whom he has been married for 5 years and his two older children from a teenage relationship, Jazmin Garcia, 13, and Angel Garcia, 12. Jazmin and Angel live with their maternal grandparents in nearby Fruitport, MI. Johnny would rather go roller-skating with his older children than hang out at a club as many people his age typically do.
Johnny truly is a family man and is often surrounded by his large extended family and his “adopted” family which includes many friends he has made over the years in boxing. Johnny’s family includes his mom Christina Jefferson and his dad Juan Garcia Jr. who separated when Johnny was little but both stayed involved in Johnny’s life. Johnny has a good relationship with both of his parents and they both are present for most of his fights. They help out anyway they can to help see Johnny succeed. Johnny’s mom, Christina, has helped immensely by watching Johnny’s kids so that Johnny and Perla can work and Johnny can train for many hours each day. Johnny has worked at Menard’s in Holland for the past 3 years, while Perla works at Big Apple Bagels which she has also done for 3 years. Johnny lives and works in Holland and calls Holland home. His boxing started in Holland too back in 1993 with the Tulip City Boxing Club with coaches Pual Martinez, Juan Mascorro, and Ray Begay. Johnny doesn’t forget his roots and still considers those coaches as part of his large extended family. That large extended family also includes 4 brothers, two who are older, Matt Jefferson and Mike Jefferson, and two who are younger, Riccio Garcia and Chris Garcia, and 2 sisters, Lisa Garcia who is older and Rachel Garcia who is younger. Johnny also has many aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins. The extended family also includes former teammates, sparring partners, community supporters, sponsors, coaches and boxers from other gyms and many boxing officials. “I have a really big family and they all show tons of support towards my boxing career and couldn’t be happier for me and all the success it’s brought me so far.” stated Johnny recently.
Johnny is a very affable young man who develops friendships wherever he goes. One of the friendships that really has developed over the years is with the man who Johnny gives a lot of credit to for helping him really develop as a boxer and mature as a man and that man is his trainer and manager Terry Markowski. Terry has been a coach at the Muskegon Recreation Center Boxing Gym for many years and met Johnny in 2005 when Johnny was living in Muskegon at his mom’s home. Johnny noticed a boxing sticker on Terry’s truck and the two started talking “boxing”. They quickly formed a friendship and soon thereafter Johnny resumed an amateur boxing career that had been dormant for more than 5 years and immediately jumped right into the open-class with success. Johnny and Terry worked together and formed a very close bond. Johnny with Terry’s coaching and support won two Michigan Golden Gloves State open-class championships (2008, 2009), two Michigan Senior Open Championships, the 7th Annual Carolina Cup in Puerto Rico in 2009 and the 2009 James Toney Invitational Championship. Johnny also competed in two National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions tournaments where he was a quarter-finalist in 2008 in Grand Rapids, MI and a semi-finalist in 2009 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Johnny finished his amateur career with an outstanding overall record of 76-15. Johnny is humble and admits that he may not be the most talented boxer to ever step into a boxing ring, but those that know him know that it is the other intangibles that make Johnny so successful. He definitely has a fighter’s heart and mind and doesn’t fear anyone. Johnny has faced some adversity in the ring and his resiliency has shown through as he has come back from head-butts, low blows, elbows, cuts and other injuries. Johnny is as tough as they come and has excellent conditioning.
Johnny often travels to Grand Rapids’ Michigan Golden Gloves Association Boxing Gym to get sparring. He and Terry also frequently travel to Chicago and Detroit so that Johnny can spar with other boxers and face varying styles and skill-levels. Johnny has mixed it up with many world-class boxers and has never once been embarrassed or outclassed. Often those sparring sessions gain Johnny the respect of the boxers and their trainers such that they turn down future sessions or the motivated ones invite him back to get that quality sparring themselves.
Johnny’s trainer and manager Terry Markowski has this to say about his charge “Johnny’s work ethic and love of this sport is second to none. I don’t worry about what Johnny is doing. I know that he is either working out or with his family.” The respect that Johnny and Terry have for one another is easy to see. They have more than just a boxer-trainer relationship and they view each other as family. Terry also stated that “one thing that is very important to Johnny besides his family is his fans. Johnny has a large fan base that keeps growing. He takes the time to acknowledge his fans.” Terry went on to describe a recent interaction Johnny had with a fan “On Dec. 17, 2011 in Grand Rapids, Michigan Johnny was warming up before his bout when a 13 to 14year-old kid walked up with a ‘Johnny Garcia’ t-shirt on and was watching all of what Johnny was doing. Johnny said a quick hello to kid (who is the son of his babysitter for his kids). Just as we are getting ready to make our walk to the ring Johnny tells him ‘You lead our team to the ring’. So this kid makes the walk of his life with his hero. What a kind act for Johnny to give to this young boy.” That attitude towards fans has endeared him to the fans and his fan base keeps growing.
Sparring partner Burim Beqiri who has boxed at several National tournaments and sparred many top-ranked amateurs and pros says “Johnny is definitely a hard puncher. He puts a lot of pressure on opponents and he has a good style for pro boxing.” He went on further to talk about Johnny outside the ring and had this to say “he is a cool guy, a good guy to be around and a family guy who is always spending time with his family. When I hung out with him he was playing with his kids. He is a good role model for younger boxers.”
Teammate and fellow professional boxer Ra’eese Aleem comments that Johnny is “a pretty good boxer with the Mexican style of fighting, applying a lot of pressure and he keeps you on your heels. If he gets you to the ropes and you don’t get out of there, you are in for a long night and a lot of pounding.” Ra’eese also says “Johnny likes to stalk his prey. Johnny loves to fight. He has great stamina and is in shape to go the rounds if necessary and to throw a lot of punches each round.” Ra’eese has known Johnny for many years and has traveled with Johnny many times and based upon those experiences says “Johnny is a good guy and if a friend needs help he would be the first person to be there to lend a helping hand.” He also stated “Johnny is more family oriented than most and focuses his life around his family. Any time we travel to go somewhere to fight, Johnny is always behind me and wants to see me succeed. Johnny is willing to give me his input and give me pointers after a sparring session or a fight. Johnny and I have grown as friends from going on trips to tournaments where we sit around and talk about anything and everything.”
MGGA coach Dennis Shimmell, Jr. states “Johnny is a true warrior. He is fierce in the ring. Opponents had better be ready for one tough fight if they step in the ring with Johnny and if they aren’t in shape it is going to get ugly for them quickly.” He added “the dichotomy between Johnny in the ring and out of the ring is huge. Outside of the ring, he is friendly, easy going and a gentle father of four while he is a ferocious warrior inside the ring.”
Johnny had this to say about where he is at and how he got there “Terry to me is the perfect trainer/manager. He’s just as committed to my career as I am which makes for a perfect match. It’s very hard to do anything alone especially pursue a pro boxing career so with him on my side I think all things are possible. He’s working just as hard as I am training but on the other side of it. Terry is finding matches, sparring sessions, getting the things I need to be the best, including equipment, gear, vitamins & supplements and medical support.”
After achieving a fair amount of success in the amateur ranks, Johnny and Terry together decided it was time to move into the professional ranks. Since turning professional two years ago, Johnny has racked up 11 straight victories including 8 by KO. Johnny is not worried at all about his upcoming bout and to the contrary views it as an opportunity of a lifetime. He is thankful to Top Rank Promotions for the chance to show the world what he has to offer by boxing on Showtime’s ShoBox: the New Generation boxing card on March 23, 2012. Johnny relishes the opportunity and says “so here we are 2 years into my pro career with the opportunity to fight on national television against an Olympic medalist. I feel grateful and honored to be in this position. We’ve worked very hard to get here and I think that we’ve gotten this opportunity just through hard work and persistence.” Johnny also acknowledges that it takes a team to get to this spot when he says “I know none of this would be possible if it wasn’t for my family and the support I’ve gotten from the people around me. All of this has definitely been a team effort from everybody.” Johnny stated that his employer, Menard’s in Holland, and his boss there have been wonderful in being flexible with Johnny and allowing him to take time off to travel for training and for fights. Johnny really appreciates the support he has received from Menard’s including have co-workers, supervisors and managers come to his fights to cheer him on to victory. As humble as he is, Johnny is not shy about stating that boxing on national television is not the end goal. He says “we are still a long way away from where we would like to be as far as winning a world title, but we are definitely on our way.” Johnny fully expects to be 12-0 when the bout is over on March 23, 2012 and tells his fans “I’m going to bring this win back to West Michigan!”
Johnny’s mom, Christina Jefferson, remembers Johnny’s first two fights. “His very 1st fight was at a Silver Gloves state tournament. He won his first fight and then the next day he won again which gave him a state title and he also won the most outstanding boxer award.” She also remembered Johnny’s last State tournament in 2009 “Johnny won the tournament and closed out his amateur career the same way he got started by winning the Michigan Golden Gloves State title and won the most outstanding boxer award.” In regard to the sacrifices Johnny and his family make for his pro boxing career, Johnny’s mom had this to say “It has been hard on his family going thru the training with him; all other plans are put off to the side when a fight is coming up.” She also said that his wife Perla said he needs to go away to train. Otherwise he sees what his family is eating and food is powerful and sometimes he wants to eat the less healthy food they are eating. His mom believes that for Johnny and his family, there are “only good things to come and all the sacrifices we all have made it will be more than worth it.”
The person who has the toughest job as part of “Team Garcia” without ever stepping inside of a boxing ring is Johnny’s wife Perla, who has to make many sacrifices to support Johnny’s boxing career. She still remembers how it all began at Michigan Golden Gloves boxing tournament back in March 2006. “When I met Johnny in March 2004, I never pictured him being a boxer and he never mentioned anything about boxing. Then in March 2006 we heard about the Golden Gloves and decided to go check it out.” Perla continued “It was fun to watch as that was the first time I had ever seen live boxing. While we were watching Johnny told me how he used to box when he was little and was in all these shows and how he had stopped for a long time. It was a very exciting night, they had good fights, the crowd was CRAZY and I guess of those things did it, because at the end of the night Johnny said to me ‘I am going to get back into boxing, I will be here at the next tournament’ and that’s where his journey began.” Perla is very supportive and makes many sacrifices to help Johnny. When he is training for a fight, she has to work long hours at her job, come home and take care of the house and kids while Johnny is at the boxing gym and she cooks healthy meals for Johnny. After the boxing gym Johnny goes to a fitness gym to get in his weight training, cardio work and other strength and conditioning exercises. Perla says “by the time Johnny gets home it is 9 or 10 pm and we are all tired and there isn’t any family time. That is the hardest thing we go through. It is all going to be worth it one day. We have worked so hard for this and with God’s blessing, he will get to the top.”
For more information about Johnny Garcia, please contact Terry Markowski at (231) 206-9490 or via email at [email protected].
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