Boxrec lists his date of birth as being August 26, 1906, as does cyberboxingzone. However, contemporary reports cite him as being 29 years old when he won the title in December 1939, which if true, would make him born around 1910. The Ring Record Encyclopedia that was released in 1981 lists his date of birth as being August 26, 1910, which is in sync with the contemporary reports. Gilbert Odd in his "Encyclopedia of Boxing" also lists his DOB as being 8-26-1910. For whatever it's worth (which is probably little) Wikipedia actually lists his DOB as August 26, 1912.
In his book "Men of Steel," Peter Walsh writes: "The record books say he was born on 26 August 1910 in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. In fact he was probably born four years earlier and lied about his age when he moved to the United States." Later, he writes, "In 1980, at the age of 70 (or 74), he went to the Philippines and returned with a bride!"
So apparently, there has been quite a bit of dispute over Garcia's DOB. I suppose my question is, what has led boxrec to list his DOB as 8-26-06? Has there been new evidence uncovered to affirm that notion?
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My second query is concerning Garcia's reported 6-round decision loss to Al "Red" Moffat on July 6, 1940 in Milford, Connecticut. Both boxrec and CBZ list that fight, which would've occurred between Garcia's loss of his title on May 23 to Ken Overlin and another loss to Steve Belloise on September 12 of that year. I've looked through the NY Times archives and can't find any mention of the Moffat fight occurring, or any mention of Garcia having had any fights at all between Belloise and Overlin. Given that Garcia had been a champion just a few months before he is supposed to have fought Moffat, it seems very strange that a loss like that wouldn't get more press coverage. Moreover, in the buildup to the Belloise fight, it's mentioned that Garcia is one of the leading contenders and the Belloise fight is essentially an eliminator for another shot at Overlin - which also seems strange if Garcia had only just lost to a relatively unknown clubfighter. In addition, why would a recently deposed ex-champ even be fighting in a 6-rounder with a clubfighter? The Ring Record Encyclopedia from 1981 does not list the Moffat fight as occurring, showing the losses to Overlin and Belloise as happening back to back. Also, I remember reading in another source (I forget where) that Garcia "lost his next fight to Steve Belloise" after losing to Overlin.
Does anyone have any information on this fight? Does anyone have a contemporary source that confirms its existence?
