Surely, there is justification to include the Filipino who popularized the bolo punch, was the first fighter to floor war hero Barney Ross and held the legendary Henry Armstrong, the only fighter ever to hold three world titles simultaneously, to a draw.
Garcia, who died in San Diego in 1981 at 69, fought as a pro from 1926 to 1945, compiling a record of 89-35-9, with 63 knockouts. He qualifies as a Hall of Famer in the modern category for fighters who retired after 1942 and must have hung up their gloves for at least five years.
Curiously, Garcia was inducted into the Ring Magazine Hall of Fame in 1977. But since the International Boxing Hall of Fame was established in Canastota, New York, in 1990, he has been ignored.
The Hall of Fame has so far inducted 270 honorees–86 in the modern category, 86 in the oldtimer (those who fought from the bare-knuckle era up to 1942) category, 30 in the pioneer (those who fought in the bare-knuckle era up to 1892) category, 60 in the non-participant (non-fighters such as promoters, matchmakers, managers, trainers, patrons, referees, writers, broadcasters and cutmen with retirement not a requisite) category and eight "observers" (including boxing record-keepers, cartoonists, writers, columnists and scholars).
A pre-screening committee of boxing historians lists the nominees for each year. Ballots are mailed out to voters on Nov. 1. Voters come from a global pool of experts. The inductees are announced in January and enshrined in June. The Hall of Fame Board of Directors determines how many are to be inducted. There are usually 45 nominees in the modern category and 15 to 40 in the others.
This year, the inductees were George Foreman, Curtis Cokes, Mike McCallum, Nicolino Locche and Fred Apostoli in the modern category, Battling Battalino, Louis (Kid) Kaplan, Tom Sharkey and Jess Willard in the oldtimers category, Caled Baldwin and Joe Goss in the pioneer category, Dewey Fragetta, Dan Duva and Al Weill in the non-participants category and Academy Award-winning screenwriter Budd Schulberg and journalist Jack Fiske as observers.
It was Apostoli whom Garcia dethroned as world middleweight titlist on a seventh round knockout in New York in October 1939. Ironically, Apostoli is in the Hall of Fame and Garcia isn’t. The snub, if not an oversight, smacks of a clear bias against Asians.
The Hall of Fame has so far inducted only four Asians–Flash Elorde, Khaosai Galaxy and Fighting Harada in the modern category and Pancho Villa in the oldtimers category. Elorde was inducted in 1993, Villa in 1994, Harada in 1995 and Galaxy in 1999.
Aside from Garcia, other prominent Asian fighters ignored by the Hall of Fame are Pone Kingpetch, Hiroyuki Ebihara, Ben Villaflor, Yoshio Shirai, Saensak Muangsurin, Ellyas Pical, Soo Hwan Hong, Samart Payakaroon, Myung Woo Yuh and Chartchai Choinoi.
Garcia blossomed into a star at the fabled Olympic Stadium on Doroteo Jose Street. In 1932, Filipino promoter Jess Cortez and George Parnassus conspired to bring Garcia to the US to expand his boxing horizons.
Garcia was foiled in two attempts to win the world welterweight crown before wresting the middleweight diadem from Apostoli in New York. In his first defense, Garcia returned to Manila and halted Glen Lee in the 13th round in December 1939. In March the next year, he fought Armstrong to a draw in his second defense. Garcia lost the title to Ken Overlin on points in his third defense in New York.