Héctor García (Dominican Republic boxer)

Garcia made his professional debut against Marlembron Acuna on 16 December 2016. He won the fight by a third-round stoppage. Garcia made his first step up in competition on 10 November 2018, when he was booked to face Robin Zamora for the vacant WBA Fedelatin featherweight title.^[5] He won the fight by a second-round knockout.^[6] Garcia made his first WBA Fedelatin featherweight title defense against Anvar Yunusov on 27 July 2019. He won the fight by split decision, with scores of 105–103, 107–101 and 102–106.^[7]

Following a pair of victories against Miguel Moreno Gonzalez and Isaac Avelar, Garcia was booked to face Chris Colbert on 26 February 2022,^[8] in a WBA super featherweight title eliminator,^[9] as a late replacement for Roger Gutiérrez who withdrew as he tested positive for COVID-19.^[10] Coming in with only 19 days notice, Garcia, who was a +1500 underdog, won the fight by an upset unanimous decision, knocking Colbert down in the seventh round and winning a unanimous decision with judges' scorecards of 119–108 and 118–109 twice.^[11][12]

García was expected to challenge the reigning WBA super featherweight champion Roger Gutiérrez on July 10, 2022, at the Poliedro de Caracas in Caracas, Venezuela.^[13] The fight was later postponed, as the promoters were unable to organize a bout in Venezuela. The WBA ordered both sides to renegotiate terms to avoid the fight heading to a purse bid hearing.^[14] The pair came to terms and rescheduled the fight for August 20. The bout took place on the Adrien Broner and Omar Figueroa Jr. undercard.^[15] García fought behind his jab for the first eight rounds of the bout, which kept his opponent relatively inactive. Although Gutiérrez picked up the pace in the ninth round, García had already built up a significant lead and won the fight by unanimous decision. Two judges scored the fight 117–111 in his favor, while the third judge scored the fight 118–110 for García.^[16]

García faced three weight world champion Gervonta Davis in a lightweight bout at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., on January 7, 2023.^[17] The fight was a closely-contested affair, until Davis landed a flush straight left early in the eighth round. Soon after, a fight broke out in the crowd at ringside with 2 minutes and 8 seconds left in the eighth round, causing the fight to be temporarily halted. When the action was resumed, Davis found success again with his left hand, visibly hurting García. The latter was disoriented after retreating to his stool in his corner, complaining about his eyesight. The fight was stopped, with Davis winning via eighth-round corner retirement, marking the first loss of Garcia's career.^[18]

On March 20, 2023, the WBA ordered García to enter negotiations to defend his world title against Lamont Roach Jr. (23-1-1, 9 KOs) before May 20.^[19][20] Purse bids were scheduled for May 25,^[21] which was won by TGB Promotions on behalf of Premier Boxing Champions, which meant the fight was likely to be broadcast on Showtime. The winning bid was $410,000. The only other bidder was NoXcuse Boxing, led by Roach’s father Lamont Roach Sr., with a bid of $351,000. A per WBA purse splits, García was entitled to 75%, which equated to $307,500, with Roach taking the remaining $102,500 purse.^[22][23][24]

Speaking ahead of the fight, Roach said, “I wanna make him quit. Even if I don’t sleep him, I wanna make him quit. I want him to be like ‘alright, I don’t wanna to do this anymore.” This was a reference to García's fight against Davis, in which he quit on his stool after eight rounds.^[25] On November 1, it was announced that the fight would take place on the David Benavidez-Demetrius Andrade undercard November 25, 2023 at the Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas.^[26][27] García was happy to be fighting back at his natural weight, stating he had a good training camp. He also acknowledged Roach as a tough opponent.^[28] García was a 4-1 favorite heading into the fight.^[29] The weigh in took place behind closed doors. García was 129.4 pounds and Roach came in at 129.6 pounds.^[30]

In a closely contested, technical fight, Roach won via split decision, becoming the new WBA champion.^[31] The fight started off slow with García landing effective counters. Roach gained momentum in the later rounds, hurting García in the eleventh and dropping him in the final round with a left hook, with only 1:20 left of the round. One judges scored the bout 114–113 for García, but was overruled by the remaining judges who scored it 116–111, 114–113 for Roach. Roach landed 118 of 490 punches thrown (29%) with 79 power shots and García landed 93 of 468 (20%), landing 62 power shots.^[32][33] Following the win, Roach said, “Man, I’ve been waiting to hear ‘And the new’ for a long time. It’s about time though. All I needed was the spotlight. The first time I was a baby – I was 24 years old. Now I’m seasoned. I don’t think anyone can beat me. Nobody.” Roach offered an open challenge to the other champions at the weight for a unification.^[34] García and his team were not happy with the outcome due to the controversial knockdown, claiming it was an illegal punch. His trainer Bob Santos was hoping the WBA would call for an immediate rematch.^[35]

In August 2025, Garcia announced his retirement from boxing via social media. He concluded his career with a record of 16 wins, 2 losses, and 10 knockouts.^[12]