Tag: Emmanuel Tagoe

Lightweight contender Ryan Garcia evidently is ready to throw down even though his comeback fight against Emmanuel Tagoe is still more than a week away in San Antonio.

Garcia (21-0, 18 KOs) hasn’t fought since he got up from a knockdown to stop Luke Campbell in seven rounds in January of last year. The 23-year-old social media sensation took time off to tend to his mental health and change trainers. He now works with Joe Goossen.

The Garcia-Tagoe fight will be streamed on DAZN.

“Now I’m at the point where I’m going to do amazing when I get into the ring,” he said during a workout for the media Tuesday in San Diego. “I’ve done all the promotion I can. I’m going to be the best I can be. You have to trust that gut feeling which most guys don’t.

“I knew Joe Goossen was going to be a perfect fit for me. He’s old school, and I love that part of the game. He’s someone I can relate to. We have good chemistry.”

Goossen feels the same way.

“I knew he had something special,” the veteran trainer 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.”

Tagoe (32-1, 15 KOs) is a solid opponent. The 33-year-old Ghanaian has fought primarily in his native country but he has beaten some notable opponents there, including Mzonke Fana and Moses Paulus

And he’s coming off a majority-decision victory over Mason Menard in October 2020. That means he will have been out of the ring for a longer period than Garcia.

Garcia said he’s prepared for anything Tagoe might throw at him.

“Fighters always try to pressure me,” he said. “We’ll see since I don’t know too much about this guy. I’ll just stay calm and surgically break him down or knock him out. I have pretty good timing and accuracy. I think that has really separated myself from other fighters.

“My power has been coming out more effortlessly. I’m also not getting as tired. Everything’s coming together.”

Lightweight contender Ryan Garcia evidently is ready to throw down even though his comeback fight against Emmanuel Tagoe is still more than a week away in San Antonio.

Garcia (21-0, 18 KOs) hasn’t fought since he got up from a knockdown to stop Luke Campbell in seven rounds in January of last year. The 23-year-old social media sensation took time off to tend to his mental health and change trainers. He now works with Joe Goossen.

The Garcia-Tagoe fight will be streamed on DAZN.

“Now I’m at the point where I’m going to do amazing when I get into the ring,” he said during a workout for the media Tuesday in San Diego. “I’ve done all the promotion I can. I’m going to be the best I can be. You have to trust that gut feeling which most guys don’t.

“I knew Joe Goossen was going to be a perfect fit for me. He’s old school, and I love that part of the game. He’s someone I can relate to. We have good chemistry.”

Goossen feels the same way.

“I knew he had something special,” the veteran trainer 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.”

Tagoe (32-1, 15 KOs) is a solid opponent. The 33-year-old Ghanaian has fought primarily in his native country but he has beaten some notable opponents there, including Mzonke Fana and Moses Paulus

And he’s coming off a majority-decision victory over Mason Menard in October 2020. That means he will have been out of the ring for a longer period than Garcia.

Garcia said he’s prepared for anything Tagoe might throw at him.

“Fighters always try to pressure me,” he said. “We’ll see since I don’t know too much about this guy. I’ll just stay calm and surgically break him down or knock him out. I have pretty good timing and accuracy. I think that has really separated myself from other fighters.

“My power has been coming out more effortlessly. I’m also not getting as tired. Everything’s coming together.”

Ryan Garcia is returning to the ring. It’s official.

The popular lightweight contender, who took time away from boxing to tend to his mental health, is scheduled to fight Emmanuel Tagoe on April 9 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

Garcia (21-0, 18 KOs) was last in the ring in January of last year, when he stopped Luke Campbell with a body shot in the seventh round.

“I’m very excited. It’s been a long time, 15 months or so,” Garcia said at the kickoff news conference Wednesday in Los Angeles.

Garcia was one of the hottest boxers in the world at the time he took a break, both in terms of his success in the ring and his following on social media.

He expects to pick up where he left off against Tagoe (32-1, 15 KOs), a Ghanaian fighter who lost his pro debut but has been undefeated since.

“I had a vision when I was young,” said Garcia, 23. “I said this social media is going to play a big part in the game. I took advantage of that. And I wanted people to know the kid from Victorville (California). And that’s how I was able to show people that, ‘Yo, I’m coming.’

“And now it’s time to actually show it because everybody knows who I am. … Now I’m ready to go on a 20-year reign, maybe more.”

Tagoe is coming off a majority-decision victory over Mason Mennard in November 2020, meaning he will have been out of the ring longer than Garcia.

The 33-year-old resident of Accra is confident that he can beat Garcia.

“I know people don’t know me, but after this fight, people are going to ask, ‘Who is this guy!’? Tagoe said.

Of course, Garcia, working with new trainer Joe Goossen, is confident too, although he insists that he isn’t looking past Tagoe toward lucrative fights against top 135-pounders like George Kambosos, Devin Haney and Vasiliy Lomachenko.

“I have been boxing my whole life,” he said. “I know what it takes. I know the discipline you need, the sacrifices you have to make. What makes me feel confident is all the experience I have in the ring, over 200 amateur fights, 21 professional, been in some top training camps. I feel very comfortable and confident.

“I know whomever is in front of me, it will not be easy, that’s for sure. If it’s a quick or a long fight, I am ready for whatever.”