By Jim Calfa: In a statement on Friday, Ryan Garcia revealed that he’s no longer working with Eddy Reynoso and will now be coached by the well-respected trainer Joe Goosen.
There’s much speculation why the unbeaten lightweight contender Ryan (21-0, 18 KOs) is parting ways from Reynoso, who trains Canelo Alvarez, Oscar Valdez, and Andy Ruiz Jr, among many others.
Was it the language barrier between the two, or perhaps Reynoso having too many other fighters in his stable, which may have prevented him from giving Ryan the time & attention he needs?
Some boxing fans believe that Reynoso chose to terminate the training relationship with the young Ryan rather than the other way around. At this point, it’s anyway’s guess. All you can say is Ryan won’t be working with Reynoso.
It’s almost impossible to believe the ambitious trainer Reynoso would part ways with a future superstar like King Ry.
The timing of Ryan making the switch seems to suggest that he needed a trainer that had the time to work with him.
Ryan has an essential contest on April 9th against Emmanuel Tagoe, which will lead to a massive stadium fight in Australia later this year against IBF/WBA/WBC Franchise/WBO lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr.
Joe will be working alongside Ryan’s father, Henry Garcia. Ryan isn’t saying the reasons for the move, but we don’t know that Canelo recently commented on him wanting to see more of the young fighter in the gym.
Ryan Garcia’s statement
“I would like to thank Eddy Reynoso for everything. Eddy has been in my corner since 2018, and I’ve learned a lot from him, both inside and outside the ring. We built an incredible friendship that I’ll always cherish. On behalf of my whole team, I wish Eddy continued success in his amazing career.”
“I’m excited to announce that I will now be working with Hall of Fame trainer Joe Goossen, in addition to my father, Henry Garcia. Joe’s legendary career spans several decades of working with championship fighters.
“I worked with Joe when I was growing up, and the two of us have maintained a great relationship over the years.
“I can’t wait to pick back up where we left off and to continue this journey together. I’ll now be working out of my own gym, Fierce King, in San Diego — and my goal remains the same: to become a world champion,” said Ryan Garcia.
So there it is. Ryan is now with Goosen, whereas Reynoso is part of the past. It should be interesting to see how well Ryan and the no-nonsense coach Goosen gel with one another.
Goosen will have a lot of things he’ll likely want to change in Ryan’s game, perhaps starting with his defense. In Ryan’s last fight, he was knocked down in the second round by Luke Campbell in 2021.
Goosen will be working with Ryan to prepare him for his April 9th fight against Emmanuel Tagoe (32-1, 15 KOs) at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The contest will be shown live on DAZN.
It’s believed that Ryan could be challenging undisputed lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr. next if he gets past Tagoe, who Lou DiBella promotes. That’s the same guy that promoted Kambosos.
Canelo criticizes Ryan Garcia
Superstar Canelo Alvarez recently criticized Ryan in an interview, questioning his dedication.
“Look, Ryan has a lot of talent. But in my eyes, he’s wasting a lot of time and wasting his talent. I look at him and don’t see him 100% dedicated and, to us, that’s a bad signal,” said Canelo to Complex in being critical of the young star.
“We always remind him to come to the gym,” Canelo said of Ryan Garcia. “To train and learn.”
