The True Story of The Life and Death of El Picosito / Aunta &. Mom (Family)
The Life and Death of El Picosito
A pursuit of a dream
Story by Matthew Peters | Sports editor
"hey whatz up all well a lil about me im a chicano from Burque 505 im 5"10 150 pounds i am a professional boxer i have 12 wins 5 loss 9 knockouts, other then boxing i like to spend as much time as i can with my FAMILIA . . . " - Vincent Garcia's myspace page
Some lean against the wall, others fill the balcony, and some sit sideways crammed into pews. A standingroom-only crowd packs a church normally meant to seat 400.
Somehow hundreds fit into this small adobe brick church in Albuquerque, N.M., on a fair Tuesday morning in October.
Inside the San Jose Parish rests Vincent Garcia, dead at 20 years old. One of Albuquerque's up-and-coming boxers, he grew up in Barstow before leaving at 16 to pursue his boxing career. He died of multiple gun wounds on Oct. 12.
Outside at the cemetery, a mariachi band plays as Garcia's family members release two white doves. One flies back to Veronica Padilla, Garcia's grandmother.
"I got it, and I hugged it," said Padilla as she begins to cry. "I put it on my hand and it clung to my index finger. It held on tight to my finger and opened its wings as if it was dancing to the mariachi band."
Padilla holds the dove and sees one last moment with her adopted son.
"I felt that he was holding on to me, not wanting to let go and telling me that was probably going to be our last dance. He just didn't want to let me go."
Even when she tried to let go of the dove, it wouldn't go.
The San Jose Parish is located in a poor, urban area in Albuquerque a short distance from one of the city's major boxing training centers. Garcia's death became the top story in Albuquerque. Spanish radio stations begin to play tributes. "This one goes out to El Picosito," DJs say.
The crowd is a who's who of boxing from around New Mexico and beyond mixes in with friends and family at the church. Top Rank, a large Las Vegas boxing promotion company with a former client list of Oscar De La Hoya and George Forman, sends three representatives to the funeral. Garcia was affiliated with the company but never signed.
The night before, thousands cram the church for the wake. A line winds outside the church as family and friends give speeches. Some will get to see the open casket of Garcia; others won't make it into the church. When Padilla leaves the church at 10 p.m., there will still be people waiting outside.
Nothing is a given in the boxing world. Careers on the rise take sudden turns. Boxers fall into two categories - prospect or suspect, as Bruce Trampler, matchmaker and vice president for Top Rank Promotions, puts it. Garcia was still a prospect when he was murdered, Trampler said.
Garcia had a 13-5 record with nine knockouts in 18 career fights. He knocked out Cabien St. Pierre in 45 seconds to end his final fight a month before he died.
Barstow beginnings
"i come from the streets i live in the barrio but i am trying to make it im doing the best i can and so far it is working for me i have a good grandpa on my side. my parents are locked up ive seen it all from street fights and ranking people in to killings ya i live that life but im trying to do something different like became a world champ ..." - Vincent Garcia's myspace.com page
Veronica Padilla wasn't ready for a grandson when her daughter Dolores August announced she was pregnant at 19. She already raised three children of her own and would suddenly be thrust into the role of mom once more.
The family lived in Albuquerque when August became pregnant and moved to California just before Garcia was born. The family wanted to avoid trouble in Albuquerque, Padilla said.
Garcia was born in San Bernardino to August and Vincent Edward Garcia on May 30, 1986. Neither his mom nor dad stuck around for long; family members cite drugs, alcohol and jail time as reasons. Padilla reprised her role as mom without hesitation and raised Vincent as her own.
"Once he was born, let me tell you, that was a humongous joy," Padilla said. "I raised him from day one. To me, that was a blessing. He was a baby that was given to us by the Lord and a baby that I did not give birth to."
Veronica and her then husband Robert Padilla gained legal custody of Garcia when he was 4. August continued to move in and out of Garcia's life but was never a central figure.
Garcia ignored the drugs and gangs of Barstow and focused on sports instead. Joe Olvera, Garcia's cousin, said things turned around for the family following the move to California.
Playing with heart
Veronica signed Garcia up for as many sports as she could when the family moved to Barstow in 1990. He wrestled, played for West Barstow Little League and played football and soccer. An athlete and a sports aficionado, he knew stats and stories from athletes before his time and something about every sport.
"He knew about (Wayne) Gretzky before I knew about Gretzky," Robert said.
Robert, who owned Padilla's, a bar on 1st Street, introduced his grandson to the boxing. Robert had been involved in boxing almost his entire life and trained other area boxers. Garcia fell in love with the sport by age 3. By age four, a professional boxer gave Garcia his nickname - "El Picosito" meaning hot or spicy.
He met De La Hoya, "Sugar" Shane Mosley and other professional boxers before he was 10.
Larry Munson, a West Barstow Little League coach, saw a little child with a lot of spirit, heart and desire even at 10 years old when he drafted Garcia to his West Barstow Braves team.
"He was a natural with a good heart," Munson said. "You can have all the talent in the world, but if you don't have heart, it doesn't mean nothing. Anything he would do, he would have gone all the way in."
Munson, who has coached Little League since 1991, said he would place Garcia on his alltime best Little League team.
Chico Chavez, Barstow Junior High wrestling coach, coached Garcia in wrestling and Little League. He remembered Garcia as a positive kid who was always willing to learn.
"We could tell he had what it took to be a (base)ball player," Chavez said. "He was just very polite; he didn't have a smart mouth. He always wanted to be better. He was easy to teach."
Even when Chavez was his wrestling coach at Barstow Junior High School, he still remembers Garcia having boxing on his mind.
"He was all into boxing," Chavez said. "Even when he was real little, all he would talk about is boxing. He would talk about his matches and who he fought. When you'd talk to him, that's what he'd want to talk about. He'd always tell me about his matches and how he was doing."
Veronica said Garcia rarley gave her any problems and was an excellent son most of the time and remembers him getting into serious trouble only once.
Garcia had a cast on his hand and got into a fight with another student. Garcia scraped the other child with his cast, and both were taken away by the Barstow Police Department. Veronica, hoping to teach her son a lesson, left him at the police station for several hours. When she finally came to pick him up, she found a scared boy. He never needed to be punished again, Veronica said.
Garcia trained with Joe Chavez. He would spar and workout in Chavez's front yard in Grandview.
At 13 years old, Garcia caught Chavez's lip just seconds into a sparing match.
"He was fast since he was 13," Chavez said. "He had it in him."
Chavez's son Alex Silva grew up with Garcia and they both took to boxing. Like cousins, Silva said the two constantly talked about fighting and boxed each other. They made plans to make it big and both eventually turned pro - Silva in California, Garcia in Albuquerque.
Back to Burque
Garcia began boxing in amateur fights around New Mexico. Although an established amateur boxer in Southern California, Garcia thought moving represented a chance to his further career. He convinced his family to move. Home schooled by Veronica, Garcia split time in California and New Mexico in 2001. In July 2002, Garcia, Veronica, Robert and four other family members returned to Albuquerque.
"I wasn't sure it was going to be the right move," Veronica said. "For a lot of reasons it was, and for the reason of Vincent being killed it wasn't. So I have mixed emotions."
This is part one of the two-part series, "The Life and Death of El Picosito."
Vincent "El Picosito" Garcia was an up-and-coming boxer in Albuquerque, N.M. until he was murdered in 2006 when he was 20 years old. He would have turned 21 on Wednesday.
Garcia grew up and got his start in and boxing and other athletics in Barstow, moved to New Mexico in 2001, and began his professional boxing career in 2004.
Some descriptions of events in this story come from family and eyewitness accounts.
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