By: Sean Crose
Ryan Garcia may not have done poorly when he battled Gervonta Davis in a superfight two weekend’s ago, but he ended up losing via knockout thanks to a perfectly placed liver shot from Davis. Such things tend to have repercussions. It wasn’t surprising, then, when news broke on Monday that Garcia had decided to part ways with legendary trainer Joe Goosen. The two men had been together roughly a year. Although Garcia is known as a highly talented, fast and hard hitting fighter, there is no question that Davis proved to be the more skilled of the two men.
This came as no big shock to many, but the loss to Davis has clearly motivated Garcia to turn elsewhere in order to find a trainer that works well for him. It’s obvious the man has some stylistic growing to do if he wants to become a top level fighter. Whether or not jumping over to a new trainer will improve Garcia’s ring craft remains to be seen. Sometimes the problem is the fighter. Other times, however, a new trainer can indeed make all the difference. Freddie Roach and Emanuel Steward worked wonders for Manny Pacquiao and Wladimir Klitschko, after all. There is, however, no magic bullet to alter a fighter’s fortunes in the ring.
What’s more, this is the second high profile trainer Garcia has stepped away from. He previously worked with Eddie Reynoso, Canelo Alvarez’ esteemed trainer. Garcia, however, will remain a highly popular fighter no matter who he chooses to have train him. Garcia needs to return to his winning ways, however, if he wishes to remain highly popular – so finding a proper trainer is important. So is Garcia’s willingness to listen and learn from that trainer. Garcia is a young man, so time is on his side. Time, however, has a way of moving quickly along.