García brings Mexican boxing techniques to SZ

The interview started before a kickboxing match, in which Tiburcio García Cruz’s young pupil, Héctor García, would take part at Fighter Boxing in Poly Cultural Center, Nanshan District.

Tiburcio García Cruz, a Mexican boxing coach in his 60s, has already dedicated 50 years to boxing. He came to Shenzhen this June to train professional boxers at Fighter Boxing. His current plan is to stay in Shenzhen for three years.

He said the city is nice and the people have treated him well, which has made him feel comfortable.

García is training three professional boxers at present, one of whom is Qiu Xiaojun. Qiu will take part in the International Boxing Organization (IBO) championship this November. García trains Qiu two hours each day, basically going over technical corrections to his attack and defense. The rest of the day, Qiu does free training.

“It is a little bit hard to spend time with family before I retire,” García told the Shenzhen Daily, adding that boxers spend most of their time on their daily training. García started his boxing journey at the age of 10. After he retired from being a boxing fighter 12 years later, his busy life continued as he chose to become a boxing coach. Despite being busy, García has never regretted his dedication to the sport. “I love what I do. I love my life about boxing,” he said.

Tiburcio García Cruz

García has made glorious achievements in his coaching life. Under his instructions, 20 world champions have turned up. The most outstanding one is José Luis Castillo, a former Mexican professional boxer who has held the World Boxing Council (WBC) champion title twice. The competition that Castillo fought against Diego Corrales in the U.S. on May 7, 2005, was regarded as the best fight of the year. García cannot help his excitement when he talks about Castillo.

“There is a big gap between being a fighter and a coach,” said García. Fighters concentrate on winning, whereas for a coach, it’s more important to help the fighters find out how to win, and to correct them. “A coach must know how to teach.”

As for fighters, they must have confidence, as being confident is the most important part of the boxing spirit. García said that a good fighter must have the strong will to fight and the ambition to win.

However, boxing can also be very dangerous. García told the Shenzhen Daily that he has seen boxers get badly injured and even lose their lives during competitions. This is why boxers must prepare really hard when training. García normally trains boxers at a high standard, not only to fight against their world-class rivals, but also to protect them from life-threatening risks.

After the interview, the kickboxing match was about to begin and García stood by Héctor García to encourage him. In the end, Héctor García won.