By Jack Tiernan: Ryan Garcia believes his April 9th clash against Emmanuel Tagoe is the beginning of his dynasty in the sport.
With greatness expected of him after turning pro in 2016, the 23-year-old Golden Boy promoted Ryan dealt with injuries and anxiety problems last year that has kept him from advancing his career.
This will be Ryan’s first fight with new trainer Joe Goosen since moving on from his previous coach Eddy Reynoso.
Will Ryan Garcia surpass Canelo’s popularity?
Interestingly, Ryan parted ways with Reynoso shortly after fellow gym mate Canelo Alvarez criticized his worth ethic in an interview.
Ryan says he felt “betrayed” by the comments Canelo made about him, as he felt uncomfortable with the back-bitting from the Mexican star. Was it jealousy on Canelo’s part, criticizing Ryan due to his growing popularity?
Some boxing fans believe that Canelo was envious of all the attention that Ryan has been getting, so he lashed out at him behind his back in an interview instead of talking to him about his concerns.
What’s surprising is the 23-year-old Ryan is almost at the same level of popularity as Canelo on social media with 8.7 million followers on Instagram compared to the Mexican star’s 12.7 million. World titles don’t mean anything in terms of who the boxing fans are interested in watching.
What’s more important than titles, which casual fans are oblivious to, is being charismatic, having something to say that interests people, and entertaining inside the ring. It’s fair to say that Ryan surpasses Canelo in terms of charisma and with his sound bites.
You can argue that Ryan’s fighting style is more entertaining than Canelo’s, as he possesses one-punch knockouts.
Canelo wins his fights by battering his opponents with clubbing shots, and he puts a lot of focus on his defense, which appears he learned from Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Ryan checks all the boxes in those categories, and it doesn’t matter that he doesn’t hold a world. Again, casual boxing fans have no clue about who holds world titles. They just want to see charismatic fighters in entertaining fights.
Given Ryan’s age, it’s easy to predict that his popularity will soon sour past Canelo, even if he doesn’t capture a world title in 2022.
Next month, King Ry will end his 15-month layoff to face #4 WBO, #7 WBC, #13 IBF in the headline attraction on DAZN at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
Ryan Garcia vs. Emmanuel Tagoe undercard:
- George Rincon vs. Alejandro Frias
- Gregory Morales vs. Katsuma Akitsugi
- Hector Valdez vs. Daniel Colula Moncada
Ryan Garcia starting his dynasty
“I’m above titles. I’m above the bulls—. So I don’t care if I could win a stupid title that doesn’t mean anything,” said Ryan Garcia to SI.com. “I care about beating some good fighters. That’s what I want. That’s what I’m going to do.”
Some boxing fans might be shocked at Ryan’s attitude about not caring whether he wins a world title or not, but what he’s saying makes sense. Possessing a world title isn’t what it’s cracked up to be.
There are countless world champions in the sport tonight that is invisible to boxing fans and have no real following to speak of.
Holding world titles is meaningless unless a fighter is charismatic and knows how to reach the people. Despite not having won a world title, Ryan Garcia’s net worth is $10 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. With Ryan having made that kind of money without ever holding a world title speaks volumes about how unimportant holding a world title is in this generation.
“I’ve got tunnel-vision and I’m just ready to do what I got to do, and I really feel this is the start of a long, long dynasty,” said Ryan Garcia on his return to the ring after a 15-month layoff.
“I want to be the first one to say, ‘Let’s do it,’ but I realized that I was doing that because I felt I needed something to prove,” Ryan continued.
“I am just a kid from Victorville, and I am somebody that people like to hate on because of whatever attention I’m getting,” King Ry said. “But if you really look at it, I did all that just so people could see me fight.
“I went viral for boxing. I went viral for hitting bags. And if you really look at it as far as the influencer aspect, I don’t actually post as much as actual influencers do.
“If you really look at it, people are actually hating me because of all the attention of the videos I’m receiving, not because I’m posting videos. They also need to realize that I had a vision when I was a kid,” Ryan said.
Garcia was tired of Canelo’s criticism
“This is going to be important for my career, and this is the way people are going to get to know this kid from Victorville that is coming out,” Ryan continued.
“Now I’m here, baby. Now you’re going to have to watch how special I am. That’s just the facts.
“He misses me in the ring and he wants to see me fight too,” said Ryan about the harsh criticism he’s received from Canelo. “That’s what a break is. You don’t train. I had to clear some things out, and he knows that.
“The things he said were kind of shocking but I already addressed it on Twitter. I just hit him with the facts. I was kind of tired of him coming at me for my worth ethic, and I kind of got fed up. I’ve shown nothing but respect a lot.
“I kind of felt like, ‘I’m just going to speak my mind and my peace, and I’m just going to leave it at that,” said King Ry.
Ryan Garcia to “destroy on April 9th”
“Now I’m going to destroy on April 9th,” said Garcia. “The best thing about this is boxing is the most truthful sport in the game.
“So when I step in the ring on April 9th, you will see if I have a good work ethic or not. We’re going to see, so we don’t even got to talk about it anymore. You’re going to see on April 9th if I really do have a good work ethic.
“It’s more like Darth Vader and you know,” said Ryan when asked if he’s still close with Canelo. “Nah, nah, we’re good. No bad blood. I still think he’s a great fighter. I can’t hate on him. He’s a great fighter, he does his thing, works hard.
“It’s just the situation we’re in right now. It’s going to pass. We’ll probably be cool later on. If not, that’ll be on him because I’m ready to be cool right now. I’m going to punch him,” said Ryan when asked what’ll happen if he runs into Canelo at Starbucks in San Diego. “You guys are causing trouble. Nah, we’re good,” said Ryan Garcia.
