Ryan Garcia is set to break a long absence from the ring when he faces Emmanuel Tagoe in a DAZN main event on April 9, and the bigger news with him recently saw him switch trainers, going from Eddy Reynoso and Team Canelo to Joe Goossen.
Garcia (21-0, 18 KO) discussed the move with ESPN’s Max Kellerman, saying Reynoso just wasn’t able to give him the focus he felt he needed.
“I’ve worked with Joe in the past and he’s always been somebody I still call and whatnot, so we already have a relationship. But the reason I switched is Eddy didn’t really have time to train me and it just wasn’t working out anymore,” Garcia said. “It was already two weeks (into camp) and I hadn’t seen him, so I was, like, ‘You know, I just need to make a switch.’ Joe’s been great and he’s dedicated and I’m excited to be working with Joe.”
Garcia, 23, also was asked who he would want to fight if money and promoter ties and all that were no issue, and he named the top guys you’d expect him to name.
“Bring on Gervonta Davis, that’s my number one choice. Bring him on,” he said. “Bring Kambosos on and bring Lomachenko on. I want all those guys and I would love to fight those guys. And of course Devin Haney, as well. That would be a great fight. All four of those. We all need a fight and hopefully sooner rather than later.”
Garcia was last in the ring in early Jan. 2021, coming off the canvas to stop Luke Campbell and score the biggest win of his young career. He was meant to fight Javier Fortuna in the summer, then Joseph Diaz Jr in the late fall, but both fights were canceled. Garcia took a mental health break and withdrew from the Fortuna bout, and underwent hand surgery, which scrapped the Diaz fight.
There will be a lot of eyes on Garcia for his return, because he has a lot of supporters and a lot of doubters, too, and there has been plenty of talk about him over the last year or so, good and bad. We’ll see how things work out with Goossen and if he has some rust to shake against Tagoe (32-1, 15 KO), a 33-year-old Ghanaian who has been champing at the bit for this sort of opportunity the last few years.