Ryan Garcia April Bout Announced Friday

One of the previous top Lightweights in the world will apparently be returning to the ring in April. This, as Hall of Famer Oscar De La Hoya made official (on his own birthday, no less) that Ryan Garcia will headline the Golden Boy Promotions show in San Antonio, TX, April 9th.

On his 49th birthday Friday, De La Hoya tweeted about Garcia’s opponent, etc.

My birthday 🥳 gift: The return of @RyanGarcia vs Emmanuel Tagoe April 9, from @Alamodome in San Antonio, TX. Let’s go 🥊 @DAZNBoxing @GoldenBoyBoxing

— Oscar De La Hoya (@OscarDeLaHoya) February 4, 2022

We write the word apparently, because Garcia hasn’t been in the ring in 13 months and has canceled out of two previous headlining fights last July and this past November.

The 23 year old Garcia announced in October that he suffered a hand injury while training to fight fellow Lightweight contender Joseph ‘Jo Jo’ Diaz. That was a WBC contender showdown that would’ve set the winner up to face champion Devin Haney. Instead, Diaz proceeded directly to the title shot, losing a one-sided 12 round decision in their December bout.

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.

Garcia, had already backed out of his July Golden Boy main event bout in Los Angeles with veteran Javier Fortuna citing “mental health issues”causing him to suspend his training. After being away for most of the Summer, he agreed to fight Diaz (who had taken his place and dominated Fortuna in a decision win).

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 ocassions.

As De La Hoya announced, Golden Boy will return 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.