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Armed with matinee idol looks and nearly 9 million followers on Instagram alone, unbeaten lightweight Ryan Garcia has no shortage of critics on the ready to dissect his every move. That’s something that has simply come with the territory for the 23-year-old rising star .
The waters have been particularly choppy, however, over the last 14 months for the native of Los Angeles throughout a self-imposed mental-health break that included wrist surgery and the reveal that he flirted with thoughts of suicide.
It should go without saying entering Saturday’s in-ring return headlining the Alamodome in San Antonio that Garcia (21-0, 18 KOs) will need to answer for a variety of questions that go beyond how he might handle the straight-ahead pressure of Ghana’s Emmanuel Tagoe (32-1, 15 KOs) in this 135-pound bout set for 12 rounds (9 pm ET, DAZN — subscribe now).
“This year has been difficult,” Garcia told “Morning Kombat” in March. “It has been emotional. It has been a rollercoaster. It has been a lot of things but I will say it has made me mature in who I am as a person. It happened. I have talked so many times about what mental health is and I told people about my wrist injury, which is for real. I did have surgery.
“People have their own opinions on everything but I do think [being honest about mental health challenges] is going to help a lot of people. That is all that matters, at the end of the day. If you keep it bottled up, you are heading for disaster. Really taking a step back helps you realize what you need in your life and what you need to release and give up. I think I did the right thing.”
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In addition to the everything from the effects of the long layoff to the health of his wrist, Garcia knows his performance will be extra scrutinized because of the high-profile coaching switch that took place while he was away and the endless drama that followed the move . Garcia said goodbye to reigning trainer of the year Eddy Reynoso and the confines of Team Canelo Alvarez for the services of veteran Joe Goossen.
Although Garcia cited Reynoso’s busy schedule as an elite trainer and the want for more specialized training as the reason for leaving, the move took place after Alvarez publicly criticized Garcia’s work ethic, which led to a back-and-forth between both fighters through the media .
One of the more intriguing parts of Garcia’s decision to align with his new trainer is the fact that Goossen has long specialized in bringing out the offensive aggression in his fighters, which is a category the lightning fast Garcia already has in spades. It is Garcia’s defense and chin that remain in question to those who fear his gunslinger attitude might prevent him from fully achieving his bright potential.
It’s a narrative that came more into focus during Garcia’s last appearance, which doubled as both the most impressive victory of his five-year pro career up to that point and a bit of a cautionary tale after Luke Campbell violently floored him in Round 2. Garcia recovered well from the blow and went on to finish Campbell via seventh-round body shot in a dramatic finish.
“You have to be honest with yourself when it comes to certain situations and I have looked over the Campbell fight and there are just little technical things that I can work on real quick,” Garcia said. “They are not like major problems. It’s not that I don’t have a good sense of the ring or I get hit a lot. You are not really seeing that. You are not seeing me getting busted up in my face and you really don’t see me going a lot of rounds.
“Campbell hit me with a good shot but people make such a big deal about my defense. People always say, ‘Oh, his hands were down in this situation.’ But I could count a million times that Floyd Mayweather’s hands were down or Canelo Alvarez or Muhammad Ali. We could go all day talking about this but do you have a good sense in the ring when to pick up that hand and when not to? There is so much to this game that people don’t understand.”
Should he pass the test of Tagoe, Garcia is hoping to land any of the big names at lightweight, from Gervonta “Tank” Davis to the winner of the June 4 undisputed championship bout between George Kambosos Jr. and Devin Haney.
Lucky for Garcia, his tumultuous hiatus has helped him realize what truly matters in his day-to-day life.
“I didn’t need to lose to see all these haters come out. I just needed to take a break and they came out,” Garcia said. “It’s crazy. So it just really put life into perspective for me. What really matters in life are your family and the people that are going to be there through everything. That truly put it into a good perspective for me.”
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