Ryan Garcia Updates Status- “Choosing To Finally Get Some Help”
The evolving story outside of the ring of unbeaten #WBC #1 Lightweight, Ryan Garcia, continues and the fighter gave another update behind his Saturday announcement that he was withdrawing from his July fight with veteran Javier Fortuna.
Posting on Instagram (where else?) Tuesday evening, Garcia elaborated on his Saturday message that he says he needs to step from training for now,
“As many of you guys know, I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety for some time now and I pushed thru so many times. But, I need some time off and I’m choosing to finally get some help with my mental health,” Garcia said in the brief post.
Certainly, Garcia’s health and well being should be at the forefront.
However, as we wrote both Saturday and Tuesday, questions still surround Garcia’s latest out of the ring issues and we have begun to learn more about what also may be at work with the previously scheduled Fortuna fight.
On the Monday edition of the “Three Knockdown Rule Podcast” long time boxing insider formerly with ESPN, Steve Kim and his co-host, actor/entertainer and big-time fight fan, Mario Lopez, discussed the Garcia situation at length.
We particularly perked up when Kim revealed two things that matter in trying to “connect the dots.”
Kim relayed on the podcast that he’s learned that the 22 year old Garcia, ranked #1 by the WBC at 21-0, has privately been complaining about Golden Boy Promotions having picked the outdoor venue Banc of California Soccer Stadium next to the USC campus in L.A. for his July main event. That means it would be held in the Southern California heat in the late afternoon and early evening.
According to Kim, Garcia has made it clear he doesn’t like fighting fights in outdoor conditions. However, Kim also relayed when Garcia did his latest new agreement with Oscar De La Hoya’s promotion, it gave Golden Boy the exclusive authority to designate when and where Garcia’s fights would be.
Plus, California is still struggling to reopen post Covid-19 pandemic. In fact, it was one of the last prominent states to begin having at least some fans attending its outdoor sporting events.
And, from a business standpoint, there’s no question that Golden Boy wanted to have several thousand fans outside be able to attend the very popular Garcia main event show, as opposed to an indoor venue were the restrictions would make the crowd almost insignificant for a live gate.
Another compelling and unavoidable question that must continue to be asked is: what factor in Garcia suddenly pulling the plug on the Fortuna fight for where it was to be and the money he was to have made was the recent massive contract that Undisputed lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez got for his next title fight?
That came, when Triller paid $6 million in a blind purse bid for Lopez’s upcoming mandatory title defense with Australian George Kambosos in June. It is not out of line to think and suggest that Garcia, who has twice before pulled out of Golden Boy main events in the last 18 months, because he was unhappy with the money and or the opponents he was being given, isn’t watching carefully what the premier fighter in his own division got for such an ordinary mandatory title defense.
Garcia solidified his standing as the WBC’s #1 135 lb. fighter with his TKO win over England’s Luke Campbell in January.
Kim also said on social media later Monday, that for their part, Fortuna’s promoter Samson Lewkowicz is pressing both Golden Boy Promotions and the WBC to at least assure Fortuna that he will get the winner of their championship fight between Devin Haney and Jorge Linares May 29th in Las Vegas. And, they have a strong argument in that Garcia has just decided to disregard their fight and should therefore, forfeit any leverage for fighting Haney later this year.
Now, we wait to see when Garcia re-surfaces and what he intends to do next?
