Ryan Garcia- “I Wanted To Kill Myself”

In a very compelling interview released on Thursday evening, unbeaten Lightweight contender Ryan Garcia gave in depth, honest and at times, scary, series of comments. That included an exchange on the subject of his mental health where Garcia admitted he’s contemplated taking his own life.

Garcia spoke exclusively for over 40 minutes to Dan Canobbio on his weekly “Inside Boxing Live” program seen on Fubo Sports and on Youtube. And, when the subject turned to Garcia’s mental struggles, he didn’t hold back,

“When I was deep in it (depression), I didn’t think I was going to live,” Garcia told Canobbio. “I was so depressive. I was into bad habits. I was drinking. And, I never drink. Ever. But, I was getting drunk all the time. I wanted to kill myself at one point. I was so paralyzed in my mind.

“I couldn’t get out of it. If I could explain it, in words…the torment I was feeling, I would…So bad. So intense. I just thought, maybe I just rather not be here.”

Clearly, some chilling comments and kudos to Canobbio for not only scoring the conversation, but for being able to get Garcia to open up about his situation and be fair about the follow up questions he asked, as well.

As for the 23 year old Garcia looking towards a ring return, that is scheduled to happen on April 9th. Now, in fairness, each of his last two scheduled bouts, last July with Javier Fortuna and then an October hand injury sidelining him from fighting Jo Jo Diaz late last year, have been met with legitimate skepticism that his heart’s clearly not fully in to a ring return, etc.

Garcia was last in the ring on January 2nd, when he got his most credible win of his 21-0 pro career with a TKO over England’s Luke Campbell in Dallas. The Californian had been slated to potentially fight Haney after that, but instead was trying to make a bout with either Gervonta Davis or potentially, Manny Pacquiao at the beginning of the year. However, those two huge names both passed on the possibility of fighting him.

As for the opponent in the new suggested return for Garcia, Ghana’s Tagoe is 32-1 with 15 KOs. He’s also been inactive for longer than Garcia with his last bout coming in November 2020 in South Florida. That’s when he decisioned Mason Menard over 10 rounds.

Tagoe lost his first pro fight in June of 2004, but has now won 32 straight since. Tagoe has only fought outside of Africa on two previous occasions.

As Oscar De La Hoya announced last week, Golden Boy Promotions will return with Garcia-Tagoe to the Alamodome in San Antonio, where they have held a couple of previous shows in recent years.That includes unbeaten, former WBO Jr. Middleweight World Champ Jaime Munguia defeating Spike O’Sullivan in January 2020 main event.

As for Garcia, he is clearly a talented young fighter seeking to become a world champ, but one who’s still battling inner demons to make it happen.