DAZN / GOLDEN BOY BOXING: Toyota Center; Houston, Texas
“Heavy is the head that wears the crown” is the saying. And after dealing with mental issues, and lots more it appears that Ryan Garcia is back on track for the time being. But then again, things aren’t always as they appear. Garcia dispatched the very durable Oscar Duarte at 2:51 of the eighth-round via KO. It was started by his go to shot; a left hook. But not before he was tested multiple times. And he came through them all.
Garcia, coming off of his first-loss had been in the midst of making decisions and immediately second-guessing himself. A bad move for any athlete, let alone one in combat sports. Half-way gets you hurt one hundred percent of the time.
It took him a hot minute before he started listening to his new trainer DERRICK JAMES. As he put it post-fight:
“Derrick told me to stop with the shoulder roll, you ain’t Mayweather”.
Now bouncing to a third-trainer you’ll have lots of conflicting things in your head. But Garcia went on to say; “look it’s our first fight together, we’ll grow from this”. And that’s the encouraging words Garcia needs to fully believe in. He’s truly one of the most gifted fighters, but his psyche is as weak as a wet paper towel.
Did he make other tactical mistakes against Duarte? A couple. But his hand speed helped get him out of trouble. A back-and-forth fight Garcia starting using his footwork more and more, and started to take a slight edge in the fifth-round. Not that his punches weren’t crisp, but, his uppercut specifically could be better.
Back On Track For A Title Shot
Before he makes any more moves in the ring there’s one that ABSOLUTELY has to happen first. He needs to settle things with his promoters Oscar De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins or move on. Not having your promoter 1000% behind you helps no one. There were rumors he was considering going with Al Haymon and PBC. They may have all the fireworks fights for him, however for his mental status that might not be the best home. To be honest, Jake Paul might be best suited for him.
Don’t spit up the coffee laughing Jake Paul comes from the social-media world, which is huge in Garcia’s life. Dealing with mental issues and being a shoulder for him could be key. Then the issues in the ring can be worked on. And James should be able to implant some good changes, as well as improve Garcia’s strengths.
It all comes down to wanting titles though. And at 140, he’s going to need all the help he can get. There isn’t massive knockout power in the division, and his speed can at least now frustrate some fighters like Richardson Hitchins or even Gary Antuanne Russell at this point. But they will fire away on him. As will literally everyone else. If there aren’t the little adjustments made, his positives won’t be enough.
Especially against a feinting and awkward striking come forward fighter like Rolando Romero who he called out. Romero can easily bring him into deep waters. We just have to see if he’s back on track for real.
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