By Dan Ambrose: Ryan Garcia has suffered a right wrist injury that will require that his November 27th fight against Joseph ‘Jo Jo’ Diaz Jr. be postponed until a later date.
With surgery needed to repair the problem, the Golden Boy promoted Ryan Garcia will likely need to wait until 2022 before he can return to the ring.
It’s unknown at this point whether ‘King Ry’ Garcia will still face Jo Jo Diaz Jr. next. Garcia hasn’t fought since January 2021, and it would be risky for him to face a talented active fighter like Jo Jo Diaz coming off a year layoff.
It’s a tough fight for Ryan even if he were active fighting three times a year, but it’s a different story when you’re talking about him coming off a 12 to 15-month layoff after his less than impressive win over Luke Campbell last January.
As a result, the unbeaten 23-year-old lightweight contender Ryan (21-0, 18 KOs) will have hand surgery next Monday, October 18th by Dr. Steven Shin at the Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Surgery Center.
Ryan’s wrist injury occurred while training for his fight with Jo Jo Diaz Jr. Considering how overreliant Ryan is with his left hand, it’s surprising that he didn’t injury that limb rather than his right. It’s possible that Ryan is putting more work in on his undeveloped right hand.
This injury is a real buzzkill for Ryan and his loyal boxing fans, as pulled out of his previously scheduled July 9th fight against Javier Fortuna due to an anxiety problem.
That came after Ryan had talked eagerly about fighting Manny Pacquiao and Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis. Neither of those fights happened either. Now, Ryan is injured and unable to fight Jo Jo Diaz Jr. on November 27th.
Hopefully, Ryan’s anxiety problem hasn’t reared its ugly head once again, causing him to have second throughs about fighting the tough former IBF super featherweight champion Jo Jo Diaz Jr.
As far as experience goes, Ryan badly trails the 2012 U.S Olympian Diaz Jr. There’s no comparison from what Diaz Jr. has done as a pro to what Ryan has done, which is essentially nothing other than defeating Luke Campbell. Even that win wasn’t that great because Campbell had already lost
“I want to thank my fans for all the continued support,” said Ryan Garcia. “We are postponing my next fight for a couple of months as a result of a significant hand injury that requires immediate surgery. I will undergo surgery at Cedars-Sinai on Monday. I promise early 22 I will return better, faster, and stronger than ever. I love you guys!”
It’ll be surprising if Ryan Garcia faces Jo Jo Diaz Jr. next. It would be foolish for Ryan to face a talented fighter like Jo Jo coming off a wrist injury and a long, long period of inactivity.