Raúl García (boxer)


Raúl "Rayito" García Hirales is a professional boxer from La Paz, Baja California Sur, México, and the former IBF minimumweight world champion. He has a record of 29 wins, 1 loss, and 1 draw. He is the twin brother of WBO light flyweight champion Ramón García Hirales.

Professional career

On June 14, 2008, he challenged Filipino IBF Minimumweight champion Florante Condes and defeated him by a 12 round split decision in La Paz, Mexico. He defended his IBF title four times. Garcia lost the IBF mini flyweight title against South African Nkosinathi Joyi on 26 March 2010 by a unanimous decision.
After losing his IBF title, Garcia went on to win the WBO interim minimumweight title on October 30, 2010 by a split decision against Luis de la Rosa. He was scheduled to face Donnie Nietes on March 12, 2011 for the full championship, however, just two weeks prior to the fight date, Nietes announced that he would be vacating his world title and moving up in weight. Therefore, Garcia was promoted to full champion. On May 30, 2011, he successfully defended the title for the first time by third round tko against Rommel Asenjo. Garcia and his brother Ramón made history on this night when they became the first set of twin brothers to win world title fights on the same card.