By John Tornay: Upset-minded Emmanuel Tagoe believes Ryan Garcia is afraid of him and has been for quite some time, and he’s going to take advantage of that anxiety when they meet this Saturday night on April 9th.
#7 WBC lightweight contender Tagoe (32-1, 15 KOs) says Ryan (21-0, 18 KOs) avoided him a year ago when he opted to take on Luke Campbell on January 2, 2021, rather than him, and he believes that’s just a flat-out example of fear.
Tagoe, 33, says he doesn’t want to gloat about being avoided, but it’s difficult not to make mention of it when it comes to the Golden Boy star Ryan Garcia.
Tagoe will be coming into Saturday’s headliner with a 32-fight winning streak that stretches all the way back to 2004, which is a huge accomplishment.
While some critics point out that Tagoe has compiled his 32-fight winning streak off the back of second-tier and bottom fringe-level opposition, it’s still quite an accomplishment to put that many consecutive wins together without losing.
The best names on Tagoe’s resume:
- Mason Menard
- Moses Paulus
- Vyacheslav Gusev
- Fernando David Saucedo
- Mzonke Fana
Some of those names stack up with the guys that Ryan has fought during his six-year professional career. In contrast, Ryan’s best wins have come against Luke Campbell, Carlos Morales, and Francisco Fonseca.
Let’s be real. If there is any room for criticism of the 33-year-old Tagoe is the glacially long delay that it took for his promoters to finally step him up against an A-class opponent.
It’s unclear how long Tagoe has been with his current promoter Lou DiBella, but it’s hard to believe that he would have waited 18 years to finally match the Ghana native against a high-caliber opponent, particularly with a long winning streak like his. What happened?
You can’t put the blame on Tagoe for not having fought better opposition during his career because that’s obviously something his management should be answering.
It’s just good that Tagoe is finally getting the opportunity to display talented against a superstar like Ryan Garcia because he could have easily been buried in anonymity for the remainder of what’s left of his career
“Ryan knows he’s scared of me for a long time,” Emmanuel Tagoe said to DAZN. “I think he’s scared of me. That’s why he chose Luke Campbell,” said Tagoe.
“I know I’ll beat Ryan Garcia, and I’m ready to fight anyone at 135. I want to fight everybody. I don’t come here to gloat. I’m here to bring the best in the 135-pound division. I’m here to surprise everyone. I’m here to give anyone good boxing.”
Given that Tagoe is promoted by Lou DiBella, the same promoter that guides unified lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr’s career, there’s an excellent chance that he could get a title shot soon if he gets past Ryan Garcia on Saturday.
Kambosos is facing WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney on June 5th in Melbourne, Australia.
Ryan is clearly being set up to fight the winner of the Kambosos-Haney fight, which is the sole reason he’s taking on the DiBella-promoted Tagoe.
Golden Boy Promotions are doing DiBella a favor by letting Tagoe fight the superstar Ryan on Saturday, and in return, the young 23-year-old star will get an eventual shot at the winner of the Kambosos vs. Haney fight.
Ryan may need to wait a while before he gets the title shot, though, considering that Kambosos has a rematch clause in the contract with Haney, meaning that if he loses, they’ll run it back in Australia a second time.
“I’ll teach Ryan Garcia because I know I’m the teacher. I’m the king of the ring on April 9. I think that very night is my night,” said Tagoe.
