Ryan Garcia Announced Saturday He’s Withdrawing From Fortuna Fight
Say this for unbeaten, popular Lightweight star Ryan Garcia: it’s never dull with news about or from him. And, the latest update from him Saturday has many in the boxing world wondering what’s really going on?
Garcia put on Instagram late Saturday morning Pacific time that he’s now not going to fight veteran Javier Fortuna in July as scheduled citing needing “to manage my health and well being,”
Earlier this month Golden Boy Promotions and DAZN officially announced Garcia vs. Fortuna to headline for July at a location to be announced later. However, just over a week later, Garcia now wants out of the bout.
When last we saw Garcia, 21-0, 18 KOs, he solidified his standing for a world title shot, when dispatched England’s Luke Campbell with a single body shot KO on January 2nd in Dallas.
It was a tough bout, and Campbell did test Garcia’s chin that night. This, as he floored the Californian for the first catching him flush with a left hook midway through the second round and dropping Garcia onto the seat of his pants.
Garcia got up, shook it off, and went on to control the fight before the knockout blow.
That fight set Garcia as the mandatory challenger for unbeaten, WBC World Champ Devin Haney, who was ringside in Dallas that January night.
However, when the fight was done, Garcia made clear that wanted the unbeaten, two division World Champ Davis in his next bout.
“I want to be a man of my word. I want to fight ‘Tank’ (Davis). I’m ready for it. This fight I put down an Olympic Gold Medalist. Lomachenko couldn’t stop him. Linares couldn’t finish him. I showed today, I’m special,” Garcia said.
He subsequently was part of a Mike Tyson video/podcast interview, where Tyson got Davis on a video call and he and Garcia exchanged insults playfully and talked about setting a fight date. That obviously isn’t happening next.
Also, Garcia and his promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, tried to engage seven division world champ Manny Pacquiao about a bout later in the year. However, that bout was never realistic, especially with Pacquiao fighting at 147 lb. or 12 lb. heavier than Lightweight.
Garcia’s proposed opponent, the 31 year old Dominican Fortuna, lost in a bid for the IBF Lightweight title to Robert Easter in January 2018. He has, however, won his last three fights and is 36-2-1.
The Garcia post will call into question what he exactly he means on “taking some time to focus on myself,” and is it somehow related possible drug, alcohol or other problems?
A year ago, he got into a very public dispute with Golden Boy owner Oscar De La Hoya or the promotion wanting to use him in a July fight to restart the company post Covid 19 shutdown of the sport. They could not agree on money/opponent and after more delays and squabbling, he finally signed to fight Campbell five months later for the January bout.
It will be up to Garcia, who with nearly 9 million followers on Instagram is clearly is one of the top draws in the U.S., to let us know more about whatever is going on and when he expects to fight Fortuna or someone else later this year.
A veteran broadcaster of over 25 years, T.J. has been a fight fan longer than that! He’s the host of the “Big Fight Weekend” podcast and will go “toe to toe” with anyone who thinks that Marvin Hagler beat Sugar Ray Leonard or that Tyson, Lennox Lewis or Deontay Wilder could have beaten Ali!
