The continued rise of his star pupil highlighted yet another banner year for renowned trainer Robert Garcia.
It wasn’t just the success of Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez that defined Garcia’s 2024 run of success. Rodriguez (21-0, 14 KOs) certainly aided the cause, though, with his seventh-round knockout of Juan Francisco Estrada to win The Ring and WBC junior bantamweight championship.
The feat was part of a litany of big wins from the Robert Garcia Boxing Academy in the past year. The gym’s success made Garcia—a former IBF 130-pound titlist in his heyday—the runaway favorite for The Ring’s 2024 Trainer of the Year.
Garcia accepted the award as part of The Ring’s inaugural awards ceremony Saturday evening at Old Royal Naval College in London.
The success enjoyed by Rodriguez is special to Garcia, under whom the San Antonio has trained since age 15. Similarly, Garcia beamed with pride over Raymond Muratalla (22-0, 17 KOs), who advanced from prospect to contender with three wins in 2024.
Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela brought another major title to the stable after his Aug. 3 twelve-round win over Isaac Cruz. The feat saw Valenzuela (14-2, 9 KOs) win the WBA junior welterweight title, as part of Riyadh Season’s USA launch at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, California.
The event took place roughly 90 minutes from Garcia’s training headquarters in Riverside.
Vergil Ortiz (22-0, 21 KOs) overcame an empty, illness-riddled 2023 campaign with a return to Garcia’s stable and three wins in 2024. A pair of first-round knockouts paved the way for an interim WBC junior middleweight title-earning victory over Serhii Bohachuk (25-2, 24 KOs) in their Aug. 9 Fight of the Year contender.
RUNNERS-UP (listed alphabetically)
Don Charles
Rudy Hernandez
Andy Lee
Marc Ramsay
Bob Santos
Jake Donovan is part of the U.S. team for The Ring. Follow Jake on X and Instagram.