Ryan Garcia: ‘I feel DANGEROUS’

Image: Ryan Garcia: 'I feel DANGEROUS'
By Boxing News - 02/11/2020 - Comments

By Sean Jones: Ryan Garcia continues his journey this Friday night on Valentines Day when he takes on the talented Francisco Fonseca on DAZN at the Honda Center, in Anaheim, California.

This is a test fight for the young 21-year-old Garcia (19-0, 16 KOs) to see how he ranks up there with Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis and Tevin Farmer, who both have beaten the tough Nicaraguan knockout artist Fonseca (25-2-2, 19 KOs) within the last three years.

Ryan Garcia facing an important test 

It’s vitally important that Ryan show the same, if not better, ability against the 25-year-old Fonseca that Tank Davis and Farmer did, as he fails to look as dominant, then it’ll be a sign that he still needs more work.

Gervonta set the bar high for Ryan in stopping Fonseca in the 8th round in 2017. Likewise, Farmer was spectacular in beating Fonseca by a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision in 2018, winning by the scores 117-111 x 3. Garcia has got to do at least as good as those talented fighters did, if not better, in beating Fonseca on Friday night.

Some boxing fans are already labeling Fonseca as a “cab driver” and a “bum,” but he’s far from that. He’s got a lot of ability, and he’s only lost to the best in Tank Davis and Farmer. Fonseca has beaten most of the other guys he’s faced.

In his last fight, he was held to a controversial 12 round draw against British fighter Alex Dilmaghani last November in London. Fonseca fought well enough to deserve the win, but ended up going home with a draw.

Ryan Garcia: I’m a whole different fighter

“He’s teaching me things, giving me lot of pointers. You seen me in the ring,” said Ryan Garcia to Little Giant Boxing about Canelo Alvarez. “You seen what I did. I just let my trainer speak for my improvement.

“And I know what I’m doing but I got to stay focused and keep going,” said Garcia. “I feel way better. I’m way more focused. Nobody can come in the gym without nobody saying anything. Everything is so professional, and I know how to be a champion now cause I see it right in front of me.

“You can’t beat it,” said Ryan Garcia on training with Reynoso. “Before, I was at my house, and everyone could come over and see what I’m doing. It kind of distracted me, you know? But every day I’m improving. Ask Eddie when I got here, and now. I’m a whole different fighter,” said Garica.

Recently, Garcia started training with Saul Canelo Alvarez’s trainer Eddy Reynoso. He feels excited about the improvements that he’s made in his game in the short period of time that they’ve been working together. However, it’s going to take a while to see whether Reynoso had made an indelible mark on Ryan’s ability.

Ryan’s last opponent Romero Duno lacked the ability to give  him a test to whether he’s gotten better or not.

Ryan’s defense improved with new trainer

“I feel dangerous and complete,” said Garcia. “And I can do everything. I know what I’m doing, and I use my defense. My offense has always been there, but now my defense is just way better. He basically taught me how to carry myself as a champion and train like a champion,” said Ryan about his trainer Eddy Reynoso, who also trains Canelo Alvarez.

“Everyday you’ve got to be trying to get better,” Ryan said. “You can’t be thinking that you know it all. He didn’t tell me that verbally. When you train every day, and they don’t tell you, ‘Oh, you’re doing great,'” said Garcia.

In Garcia’s fight with Duno, he destroyed him by a 1st round knockout last November. Ryan certainly fit the description of being “DANGEROUS” against Duno. Now we’re going to see if he can continue to look that way against Fonseca on Friday.

Golden Boy Promotions want to match Ryan against Jorge Linares in his next fight. Linares is fighting on Ryan’s undercard this Friday against Carlos Morales. If Garcia and the former three division world champion Linares both win in flying colors, then you can expect to see them battle this summer.

Garcia now a headliner fighter

“You’ve got to do this, and you’ve got to do that,” the 21-year-old Garcia said. It’s just mentally, I’ve learned how to become a better fighter. Just with defense. You’ve got to be calm, and you’ve got to be ready for everything,” said Garcia on what Canelo has taught him.

“Mainly what Canelo is teaching me is to stay grounded because a lot of people are going to come after you, and try and persuade you to do different things. You just need to stay focused with your team. Don’t change it, and just keep going,” said Gacia.

“I just know that if it’s not Canelo, I’m going to be headlining,” said Ryan Garcia to Ring TV Digital. “I feel like everybody is going to come out. He never fought nobody though,” said Ryan about his opponent Francisco Fonseca. “I know why Gervonta and Tevin fought him. He had a good record, but I looked into it. I researched it. I’m going to fight the best fights, dip and never talk to nobody again,” said Garcia.

Ryan still needs a lot of work on his game

It’s important that Ryan improve on his defense, because he’s going to need that when he starts facing the elite level lightweights like Tank Davis and Devin Haney. In Garcia’s toughest fight in his 4-year career against Carlos Morales in 2018, he was getting hit a lot. Although Ryan won a 10 round majority decision, the fight was too close.

Morales is an excellent fighter, but he wouldn’t likely be competitive against Tank Davis, Devin Haney or Vasiliy Lomachenko. The good news for Garcia is it’s been two years since he fought Morales, and he’s improved a lot during that time. It would be interesting to see how the 2020 version of Garcia would do against Morales now.

Golden Boy Promotions has advanced Ryan Garcia to a headliner fighter except when paired with Canelo Alvarez. For example, Garcia’s last fight against Romero Duno was the co-feature attraction on the undercard of Canelo’s last contest against Sergey Kovalev on November 2. But for Friday’s fight, Ryan will be in the main event against Fonseca.

Ryan wants Gervonta in 2020

“I definitely want Gervonta Davis for this year,” said Ryan Garcia. “I’ve been pushing for this fight to get it done for December. I want to shock the world. I don’t want easy fights. You can argue that Duno was a harder fight than Gamboa is now.

“To me, Gervonta would be good. Canelo showed me. I don’t speak Spanish. I might kick Conor McGregor in the face. It’s no call out. I’m just saying it could happen. Tune in because this is Gervonta’s former opponent and Tevin Farmer’s former opponent [Francisco Fonseca].

“Now you’re going to see where I rank up with this former opponent, and then hopefully get that fight later on with Gervonta,” said Garcia about his fight against Fonseca. “So don’t miss it. This is part of my legacy. If you miss it, it’s part of my journey,” said Ryan.

With Ryan Garcia planning on retiring by age 26, it’s important that he get a fight with Tank Davis as soon as possible. As much as Ryan would like a fight with Tank in 2020, it’s probably not going to happen. Mayweather Promotions are focusing on putting Gervonta in against certains of fighters.

You’re seeing him fight a lot of older guys now like 38-year-old Yuriorkis Gambia, and Ryan might not fit the criteria that they’re looking for. Even if Ryan doesn’t get a fight with Gervonta, he can still challenge WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney. That’s an easy fight for Golden Boy Promotions to make, since both fighters are with DAZN. Haney and his promoter Eddie Hearn aren’t afraid to take risks.