By: Sean Crose
“I don’t really have that many emotions,” Ryan Garcia said when asked by Fight Hub about tomorrow night’s return fight against Emmanuel Tagoe. “I just know I have a job to do, a mission to do, Saturday night.” First and foremost, that mission is to successfully get himself back into the fight game. For the popular Californian has not been in the ring since January of 2021, well over a year ago. Yet a fighter as popular as Garcia is must do more than just win in order to raise eyebrows this weekend. He has to win impressively. That’s not guaranteed to be as easy task.
Still, Garcia appears relaxed and focused in the lead up to Saturday’s bout, which goes down in front of DAZN cameras at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Now under the tutelage of famed trainer Joe Goosen, Garcia is beginning a new phase of his career feeling confident. “It’s really how you feel,” he said, “the atmosphere in the gym. There’s a lot of good energy going on, a lot of good vibes.” All of which seems to have instilled in the 23 year old a winning mindset heading into this weekend. “I expect a great performance come Saturday night,” he said.
Garcia made it clear that he’s looking to up his game as a fighter. “There’s a lot of things were working on,” he said. “They’ll either come together, or you’ll see what I always do.” In other words, it’s not a question or whether or not he’ll win, only how he’ll win. Tagoe, of course, sees things differently. “I’ll feel him out and see what he has,” Garcia said of his opponent, “and I’ll start working from there.”
As for some of the pre fight talk? “He’s put a lot of pressure on himself,” Garcia says. While it’s true Garcia is the more popular of the two fighters, it’s worth noting Tagoe literally hasn’t lost in years. Add that to the fact the man has only been defeated on a single occasion – in his first fight – way back in 2004, when Garcia was all of five years old, and it’s clear the native of Ghana has some credentials. As, of course, does Garcia, which makes the leadup to tomorrow night’s match all the more interesting. Will Garcia remain “King Ry,” as he’s called…or will Tagoe find a way to dethrone the young star? It’s questions like this that fuel the sport of boxing.
