Notebook: With hard year behind him, Garcia aims to return with bang vs. Tagoe

Big Fight Weekend announcement; Mayer signs extension with Top Rank ahead of title defense; Quick hits; Show and tell

Apr 09, 2022

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After a difficult 15 months, lightweight star Ryan Garcia is set for his much anticipated return to the ring.

He will face big underdog Emmanuel Tagoe in a scheduled 12-round bout contracted at 139 pounds in the main event of a Golden Boy Promotions card on Saturday (DAZN, 9 p.m. ET) at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

A victory, especially if by exciting knockout, will go a long way to re-igniting Garcia’s momentum and set him up for potentially major fights later in the year.

The reasons for his time off since getting off the deck from a hard second-round knockdown to storm back and eventually knock out former world title challenger and Olympic gold medalist Luke Campbell in the seventh round in January 2021 have been well documented.

First, he had mental health issues, which he has been open about. They forced him to pull out of a July fight with Javier Fortuna to seek therapy so he could deal with anxiety and suicidal thoughts. Then, when he was ready to return for a November fight with Golden Boy stablemate Joseph Diaz Jr., Garcia again was forced to withdraw, this time because of a right wrist/hand injury that requited surgery.

But now Garcia (21-0, 18 KOs), 23, of Victorville, California, — his mental health and hand in good shape, he says — is excited to get back to work doing what loves to do, which is fight.

“I miss everything about boxing: the competition, the contact, destroying someone,” Garcia said this week. “Seeing the shot; knowing where it is going to land; knowing that the timing is just perfect. I just love to fight and just be better than the person in front of me.

“This is going to be an exciting fight from me. You can expect timing and explosion. I don’t look to toss someone around for a couple of rounds. If I land a good one, you can expect that I am going to be looking to take someone out.

“Boxing is part of me. I have been doing this since I was 7 years old and I am good at it. I know that I still have a lot left to give to the sport. I feel pretty safe in the ring. I am not taking a beating. Even in sparring I don’t feel like I am getting hit with a lot of shots. And fortunately, I am healthy enough to continue to fight at a high level and give fans some amazing fights. I feel great and I am going to make every day count.”

Garcia will be making his return with a new look in his corner. He had a well-publicized split in February with reigning trainer of the year Eddy Reynoso and his star pupil Canelo Alvarez.

Garcia claimed Reynoso did not have enough time to train him because he was busy with other boxers and there were also some harsh words from Alvarez, who called Garcia out by claiming he was not as dedicated to boxing as he should be.

So, Garcia left their San Diego gym for his own gym in San Diego and called on veteran trainer Joe Goossen, who has trained several world champions, including brothers Rafael and Gabriel Ruelas, Michael Nunn, Diego Corrales, Joel Casamayor and Shane Mosley.

Garcia and Goossen have known each other since Garcia was 17 and trained him at one point during his amateur career. They’ve maintained a friendship since and when called upon Goossen agreed to train him.

“I have a connection with Joe from when I was an amateur,” Garcia said. “He was training me a little bit. Joe is an old-school guy and I feel like I have an old-school soul when it comes to the sport. We just have really good chemistry. We get along as people and as friends. Joe can also bring out a lot of out of you. He brings out a lot of grit.

“I try to do more than the average hard worker and Joe is like that too. I give it my all in everything that I do. We try to push the limits a lot. He is the perfect combination for me, someone that is on it 24/7. We’re always talking about boxing. For me, that has been the most refreshing part of this camp — that I can have someone I can talk to about boxing all day long.”

Goossen has raved about Garcia’s work ethic and believes he can take him to a world title.

“I knew he had something special,” Goossen said. “We got along and there was something about him that appealed to me personality wise and fighting wise. He’s really attacking this like he’s obsessed and possessed. I’m genuinely impressed.”

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Tagoe (32-1, 15 KOs), 33, of Ghana, whose only loss came in his 2004 professional debut, has a light resume but been looking for an opportunity to test himself against a top opponent.

“Tagoe is a veteran,” Garcia said. “He is going to try his best to keep me off of him, to survive. His goal, I think, is to not get knocked out. I know he has been saying that facing me will be easy. But I can say one thing — my job is to not make his life easy in that ring. Fans should be ready to see me give this fight everything I got. If he can take a shot, it will be a good fight. If he can’t, he will be out of there very quick.”

Tagoe is talking a good game at least.

“I think I have the tools to knock out Ryan,” he said. “This fight is an opportunity for me to showcase myself. I came here to knock out Ryan Garcia. I think he’s good but he’s not my size. I can’t wait for Saturday. I’m going to show everyone.”

Big Fight Weekend & podcast

I am going to be contributing regularly to the Big Fight Weekend website and podcast and am looking forward to it. I kicked things off with T.J. Rives, who founded the site about three years ago and is doing excellent work, by joining him on this week’s podcast. We discussed our working together and also the Tyson Fury-Dillian Whyte fight and Oleksandr Usyk-Anthony Joshua rematch. We also did a full preview of Saturday’s action, including the two DAZN cards (the Gennadiy Golovkin-Ryota Murata middleweight unification fight and Ryan Garcia’s return against Emmanuel Tagoe), the Showtime fight between Erickson Lubin and Sebastian Fundora and unified women’s junior lightweight titleholder Mikaela Mayer’s defense against Jennifer Han on ESPN. Please give the podcast a listen here and make sure to like and subscribe:

New deal for Mayer

Unified women’s junior lightweight titlist Mikaela Mayer signed a multi-year contract extension with career-long promoter Top Rank on Thursday, two days before she is scheduled to defend her 130-pound belts against Jennifer Han in the main event of the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card on Saturday (ESPN/ESPN Deportes/ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET) at The Hangar in Costa Mesa, California.

“Mikaela has accomplished so much since making her professional debut in 2017, and she has only scratched the surface,” Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said in announcing the deal. “She is a role model for young women in the sport and a tremendous talent. I believe she is well on her way to becoming boxing’s pound-for-pound queen, and she will be involved in the sport’s biggest events for years to come.”

Mayer (16-0, 5 KOs), 31, a 2016 U.S. Olympian from Los Angeles, who fights out of Colorado Springs, Colorado, unified two belts by decision over Maiva Hamadouche in a slugfest in November and will be making her third overall defense against former featherweight titlist Han (18-4-1, 1 KO), 38, of El Paso, Texas.

“This contract represents everything I have been working for since I stepped foot in a gym 14 years ago,” Mayer said. “It’s a dream contract – a contract that women’s boxing has yet to see and proof that we are a powerful force in the sport of boxing and here to stay. I have always enjoyed working with Top Rank, and when I first signed with them five years ago, I knew I had a lot to prove. Every time I stepped into that ring, I fought to show the boxing world that I belonged and that women belonged. This contract tells me that I accomplished that goal. I plan on continuing that mindset for the next several years as we knock down even more barriers and create an even greater legacy.”

George Ruiz, Mayer’s manager, added, “The rapid rise of women’s boxing over the last few years has been accelerated by Top Rank providing Mikaela with a platform to showcase her skills in the world’s biggest venues and in front of the biggest audiences as the main event on live ESPN broadcasts. She will now be one of boxing’s best-paid athletes. We can think of no better promoter and partner than Top Rank for Mikaela’s next phase as a world champion.”

Quick hits

Weights from Tokyo for Saturday’s GGG Promotions/Teiken card on DAZN (5:10 a.m. ET for card, approximately 8:10 a.m. ET for main event): Gennadiy Golovkin 160 pounds, Ryota Murata 160 (IBF/WBA middleweight unification); Junto Nakatani 111.75, Ryota Yamauchi 112 (for Nakatani’s WBO flyweight title); Shuichiro Yoshino 134.5, Masayuki Ito 135.

Weights from San Antonio for Saturday’s Golden Boy card on DAZN (9 p.m. ET): Ryan Garcia 138.8 pounds, Emmanuel Tagoe 138.2; Gabriel Rosado 167.8, Shane Mosley Jr. 167; Marlen Esparza 111.4, Naoko Fujioka 111.6 (WBC/WBA women’s flyweight unification); Azat Hovhannisyan 124.2, Dagoberto Aguero 122.8; Patrick Teixeira 162.4, Paul Valenzuela 168.4; Gregory Morales 125.8, Katsuma Akitsugi 125.4; Tristan Kalkreuth 219.6, Santander Silgado 242; George Rincon 139.4, Alejandro Frias 141; Hector Valdes Jr. 121, Daniel Moncada 121.8; Santos Ortega 125.8, Jesus Martinez 124.4.

Weights from Las Vegas for Saturday’s PBC card on Showtime (10 p.m. ET): Erickson Lubin 153.25 pounds, Sebastian Fundora 152.75 (for vacant WBC interim junior middleweight title); Tony Harrison 153.5, Sergio Garcia 152.5; Kevin Salgado 154.25, Bryant Perrella 153.5.

Weights from Costa Mesa, Calif., for Saturday’s Top Rank on ESPN card (10 p.m. ET): Mikaela Mayer 129.8 pounds, Jennifer Han 128.8 (for Mayer’s IBF/WBO women’s junior lightweight title); Giovani Santillan 147.4, Jeovanis Barraza 148.6; Andrew Moloney 115.8, Gilberto Mendoza 113.4; Floyd Diaz 122, Blake Quintana 120.6; Duke Ragan 126.6, Diuhl Olguin 125.6; Jason Moloney 119.4, Francisco Javier Pedroza 119.8; Virginia Fuchs 109.8, Randee Lynn Morales 110.6; Luis Alberto Lopez 128, Raul Chirino 128.8; Lindolfo Delgado 142.6, Gustavo David Vittori 145.2.

Flyweight Galal Yafai (1-0, 1 KO), 29, who won an Olympic gold medal for Great Britain at this past summer’s Tokyo Games and turned pro with a fifth-round knockout in his pro debut on Feb. 27, has his second fight lined up. He will face Miguel Cartagena (17-6-1 8 KOs), 29, of Philadelphia, in a 10-rounder on April 30 (DAZN) at Madison Square Garden in New York on the undercard of the women’s super fight between undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor and seven-division titlist Amanda Serrano, Matchroom Boxing announced. “Boxing at such an iconic venue in just my second fight is a massive box ticked for me and I’m looking to impress in front of an American audience and all around the world on DAZN,” said Yafai, the younger brother of former junior bantamweight titlist Kal Yafai.

Show and tell

When Floyd Mayweather challenged for a world title in his fourth weight class at welterweight, he did so against one-time close pal Zab Judah. They had a falling out, which led to their fight being named “Sworn Enemies” by co-promoters Bob Arum of Top Rank and Don King, who were working together on a fight for the first time in ages. Judah was the unified champion until losing by massive upset decision to Carlos Baldomir in his previous fight, but this is boxing, Judah came into the Mayweather fight still as IBF titlist because that belt was not put at stake against Baldomir, which had not been disclosed prior to the bout.

Regardless, Mayweather-Judah was a big HBO PPV fight and early on it looked like Judah might get the job done. He gave Mayweather a ton of problems in the first four rounds and even dropped Mayweather, although referee Richard Steele blew the call. But Mayweather figured Judah out and delivered a beating for most of the rest of the fight, which included a near-riot in the waning seconds of the 10th round when trainer Roger Mayweather entered the ring to confront Judah, who had badly fouled Floyd with a low blow and a punch behind the head. I was a few feet from the ring and it felt like we were moments from a very bad situation. But police did a great job of quickly getting things under control. The fight resumed and Mayweather, who looked like he was just about to stop Judah before the melee, cruised to the end for the clear decision at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. The fight was on April 8, 2006 — 16 years ago on Friday. Here is a scarce site poster — print run of only 250 — in my collection.

Garcia-Tagoe photo: Tom Hogan/Golden Boy; Golovkin-Murata photo: Naoki Fukuda

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