Ryan Garcia’s return RYTURN! will come on April 9 against Emmanuel Tagoe, and Chris Mannix reports that the contract for the fight has a 139 lb max for the bout, not the normal 135 where both usually compete.
This isn’t really that unusual for the situation we have here, where Garcia (21-0, 18 KO) will have been out of action 15 months by the time he steps in against Tagoe (32-1, 15 KO). Catchweights happen frequently in non-title fights like that, and this isn’t slated to be an eliminator or anything, either.
But it is going to open up further questions about where Garcia is at right now. Since his last fight, he’s pulled out of dates with Javier Fortuna (mental health) and Joseph Diaz Jr (hand surgery), and he’s had a spat with Team Canelo and trainer Eddy Reynoso that led him to moving on to train under Joe Goossen.
Garcia already gets plenty of criticism and flak, so ultimately this will probably just be one more thing, and I doubt it’s one that bugs him.
But ignoring concerns or criticisms or whatever, it’s legitimately worth considering how long he’ll be staying at 135, period. That was going to be in the cards sooner or later — likely sooner — just because he’s a big dude for 135 and at 23, every year is probably going to get a little tougher than the last making that weight.
The card, which will air April 9 on DAZN from San Antonio’s Alamodome, will also feature Gabriel Rosado vs Shane Mosley Jr and Marlen Esparza vs Naoko Fujioka.