Mother’s courage proves inspirational to Espino

By Joe Scalzo

YOUNGSTOWN — On Saturday night in North Hollywood, Calif., a 49-year-old woman named Ana Garcia will await a call from her 29-year-old son to find out if their lives just changed.

“After every fight, whether or not it’s a good outcome or if I’m really sore or I have a fractured rib or whatever the case may be, I call her [Garcia] with a positive mind,” said Miguel Espino, who will meet Kelly Pavlik for the middleweight title Saturday at Youngstown State University. “Even if I’m at the hospital, I’ll say everything’s cool.”

Five weeks ago, Espino was a little-known fighter working his way up the rankings when the WBC and WBO told Pavlik to defend his titles or lose them.

Espino was in Mexico eating some tacos and drinking a Coke when his phone rang.

“They said, ‘You want to fight Kelly Pavlik?’” Espino said after his workout Tuesday at the Southside Boxing Club. “I said, Yeah, right. You’re b.s.-ing. They said, No, it’s for real. So I said OK. Let’s do it.

“Next thing you know, I’m right here.”

Great story, right? Just imagine how good it could get Saturday night. Because here’s the thing — Espino’s mother has never even seen her son fight.

She’s legally blind, suffering from a condition called retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic disease of progressive vision loss that first struck Garcia at 15. Four years ago, when Garcia’s divorce was finalized, Espino moved back in with his mother at her apartment.

“She’s my inspiration. She’s my hero. I do it [boxing] for her,” said Espino.

Garcia walks with a blind stick and although she can see to a very limited degree, her vision isn’t good enough for her to watching a fight, Espino said.

“I wouldn’t think she could determine if Kelly got me with a really good right hand,” said Espino, grinning. “She’ll think it’s me.”

Espino (20-2-1, 9 KOs), a former contestant on the NBC reality series “The Contender,” is an intelligent, well-spoken, bilingual, likable fighter. In interviews, he doesn’t have any of Bernard Hopkins’ braggadocio or Jermain Taylor’s aloofness or Edison Miranda’s, well, craziness.

Of Pavlik’s recent opponents, he most resembles Gary Lockett, although Lockett was at least willing to engage in some trash-talking.

Espino, on the other hand, says a lot of things like this: “I’m excited, I’m humbled, I’m appreciative of the opportunity and ready to go.”

That doesn’t mean he’s not confident — he insists he’s here to win a world title, not to collect a paycheck or get his name out there.

When asked what fans should expect, he said, “A lot of heart. A lot of desire. The fans will see that, and I hope they’ll appreciate that and afterward high-five me and say, ‘Great fight, Miguel.’”

Espino may not have many people rooting for him in Youngstown on Saturday. But once you know his story, he’s a hard guy to root against.

scalzo@vindy.com