Notebook: Ryan Garcia proclaims surgery on injured right wrist 'massive success'

Bridgerweight title; Munguia-Rosado undercard set; Quick hits

Oct 20, 2021

Lightweight contender Ryan Garcia underwent surgery on his injured right wrist on Monday in Los Angeles.

“Massive success. Now I have danger in both hands. Beware. I’m very happy,” Garcia wrote on his Instagram page accompanied by a photo of him following the operation.

Garcia suffered what was termed a “significant injury” to his right wrist during a training session that required orthopedic hand specialist Dr. Steven Shin to operate. He suffered a chipped bone and ligament damage, according to Golden Boy Promotions president Eric Gomez.

The injury forced Garcia (21-0, 18 KOs), 23, of Victorville, California, to withdraw from a planned main event on DAZN against WBC interim lightweight titlist Joseph Diaz Jr. on Nov 27 at a site to be determined in Southern California.

Garcia is looking at more than a year out of the ring by the time he returns. He has not boxed since Jan. 2, when he survived a hard knockdown in the second round but otherwise controlled and then knocked out England’s Luke Campbell, a former two-time world title challenger and Olympic gold medalist, in the seventh round to claim the WBC interim belt at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

Garcia was scheduled to defend it against Javier Fortuna in a mandatory fight on July 9 but in late April Garcia announced via social media that he had withdrawn from the fight and was going to take a break from boxing to address a mental health issue.

Garcia was stripped of the interim belt and Diaz instead faced Fortuna on July 9 and won a unanimous decision to claim the vacant interim title.

Rivas aims for bridgerweight title

Through postponements and an opponent change, longtime heavyweight contender Oscar Rivas is focused on finally claiming the first WBC bridgerweight title.

He faces replacement foe Ryan Rozicki on Friday (ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET) at L’Olympia de Montreal in Rivas’ adopted hometown of Montreal.

Rivas (27-1, 19 KOs), 34, a Colombia native, and Rozicki (13-0, 13 KOs), 26, of Nova Scotia, Canada, will be fighting for the belt the WBC created that covers fighters from 201 pounds to 224 pounds. The other sanctioning bodies still regard anyone over 200 pounds as a heavyweight.

“Nothing could stop me preparing for this fight.” Rivas said. “I’ve remained focused for so long for this fight. I was surprised to learn about my new opponent, but nothing changed at all for my preparation for this fight. I am ready. I am so excited and proud to be fighting for the WBC bridgerweight title.”

Rivas was due to face fellow former heavyweight contender Bryant Jennings for the vacant title but Philadelphia’s Jennings, whom Rivas knocked out in the 12th round of a heavyweight fight in January 2019, dropped out after refusing to be vaccinated against Covid-19 and for refusing to follow Canada’s rules of admission for non-vaccinated travelers. That paved the way for Rozicki to get the fight about three weeks ago.

“(Rozicki) is a very aggressive boxer,” Rivas said. “However, I will be ready for him. I have been waiting for this fight for so long that I can’t wait to show the boxing world how improved I am. I have devoted my entire life to be where I am today. I feel so blessed to have this opportunity to fight for the title in Montreal, the city that has adopted me. I know that I will be at my best for this fight, and nothing will stop me from winning. No misunderstandings, I will become the new WBC bridgerweight champion. I’m also ready to fight for the world heavyweight championship if the opportunity is presented to me.”

Rivas-Jennings was originally scheduled for June 18 but it was postponed due the coronavirus pandemic.

Munguia-Rosado undercard

On Tuesday, Golden Boy unveiled the undercard for the DAZN card that will be headlined by a 12-round middleweight fight between Jaime Munguia and Gabriel Rosado on Nov. 13 (9 p.m. ET) at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

Welterweight Alex Rocha (17-1, 11 KOs), 24, of Santa Ana, California, will face Jeovanis Barraza (22-1, 15 KOs), 26, of Colombia, in the co-feature.

“I expect a lot from myself. I expect to be a main event star in the sport. For now, I’m focused on stealing the show as the co-main event and bringing excitement to the crowd,” Rocha said. “I want to earn the respect and support of Orange County fans and I can do that by knocking opponents out. I was born and raised here. Sports in Orange County should be Angels, Ducks, and Alexis Rocha. That’s my goal.”

There are also two other 10-round bouts set for the main card: middleweight D’Mitrus Ballard (20-0-1, 11 KOs), of Temple Hill, Maryland, against Paul Valenzuela Jr. (26-9, 17KOs), of Mexico, and lightweight William Zepeda (23-0, 21 KOs), of Mexico, against Miami’s John Moralde (24-4, 13 KOs).

Additional preliminary bouts will stream on Facebook Watch, including an all-Mexican women’s 10-rounder between Arley Muncino (29-3-2, 10 KOs) and Jackie Calvo (14-6-2, 1 KO) at flyweight and Mexico’s Diego De La Hoya (22-1, 10 KOs), the cousin of Golden Boy CEO Oscar De La Hoya, against countryman Jose Gonzalez (23-9-1, 13 KOs) in a 10-round featherweight fight in De La Hoya’s first action in 23 months.

Quick hits

Showtime announced a two-part “All Access” series to lead up to the Canelo Alvarez-Caleb Plant undisputed super middleweight title fight that takes place on Nov. 6 (Showtime PPV) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The first episode will debut Friday at 8 p.m. ET/PT with the second episode debuting Oct. 29 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. There will also be an epilogue episode that will premiere on Nov. 13.

Promoter Lee Eaton on behalf of MTK Global won a purse bid on Tuesday for an IBF final featherweight eliminator between Luis Alberto Lopez (23-2, 12 KOs), 28, of Mexico, and Isaac Lowe (21-0-3, 6 KOs), 27, of England, for $15,000. That was the only bid and there is no minimum bid for an elimination bout. The split is Lopez 60 percent ($9,000) and Lowe 40 percent ($6,000). If the fight happens, the winner will be the mandatory challenger for the winner of the fight between world titlist Kid Galahad and Kiko Martinez, who meet on Nov. 13.

The WBO has scheduled a purse bid for the fight between strawweight titlist Wilfredo “Bimbito” Mendez (16-1, 6 KOs), 24, of Puerto Rico, and mandatory challenger and fellow southpaw Masataka Taniguchi (14-3, 9 KOs), 27, of Japan, for Wednesday. Participants can attend in person at the sanctioning body’s headquarters in San Juan, Puerto Rico, or via video conference. Minimum bid is $80,000. The split is 75-25 in favor of Mendez but could increase to 80-20 if the bout takes place in Japan. Mendez has made two defenses. Taniguchi will be getting his second title shot, having lost a decision to Vic Saludar for the same belt in February 2019.

Show and tell

Evander Holyfield is one of the great legends of boxing. He was the first undisputed cruiserweight champion and also became the undisputed heavyweight champion. He also won a piece of the heavyweight title a record four times and engaged in many memorable and historical fights, such as his epic trilogy with Riddick Bowe, two wins over Mike Tyson and many others. “The Real Deal” turned 59 on Tuesday. In his honor, here is his somewhat scarce rookie card in my collection from the 1986 Brown’s Boxing set.

Garcia photo: Ryan Garcia Instagram

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