By Matthew Hurley: With veteran trainer Freddie Roach experiencing his worst year in the corner and Fernando Beltrain concentrating primarily on one fighter, Juan Manuel Marquez, it was time for a member of the new guard to step out of the shadows and lay claim as the trainer to watch. Robert Garcia made himself known in 2011 and now, after a stellar 2012, he is SecondsOut Trainer of the Year.
Garcia, who handles Nonito Donaire, Brandon Rios, Kelly Pavlik and Marcos Maidana had an unusually successful year with his stable of fighters – particularly with pound for pound entrant Donaire who fought, what for these days, was an unheard of four times.
Donaire moved up from bantamweight to junior featherweight beating Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. and Jeffrey Mathebula. He then defeated highly rated Toshiaki Nishioka before stopping the popular Jorge Arce in the third round.
