Avila Perspective, Chap. 177: Return of Ryan Garcia and More

L.A. traffic couldn’t prevent us from arriving on time for the Ryan Garcia versus Emmanuel Tagoe press conference in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday.

I’m an East L.A. native and know all the shortcuts and detours to make in case of obstructions or traffic jams. My mother and father were both born and raised in East L.A. and we all worked at one time or another in downtown L.A.

Even my grandpa worked in downtown L.A. as a newsboy in the 1920s across the street from the now gone Main Street Gym.

As a sports reporter, now specializing on boxing and baseball, I’ve covered Golden Boy Promotions since its inception when it opened the first office in 2002. I remember walking into a bare office with boxes strewn across the floor and on top of one desk and a friendly Marylyn Aceves greeting us. A lot has changed.

Oscar De La Hoya was still fighting and had a dream of becoming a promoter focusing on bringing high level prizefighting to Los Angeles and the Southern California area. His emergence as a pro boxer actually set off an explosion of gyms throughout not just Southern California, but the entire southwest region of the USA.

Now Golden Boy Promotions has a reputation as one of the stronger American promotion companies in prizefighting and De La Hoya owns a building on Wilshire Boulevard worth much more than when he bought it. The press conference was held in the spacious bottom floor with the large storefront windows blacked out.

Success in boxing promotions is all about talent. Do you have the talent to attract viewers on television or on streaming applications? Do you have the talent to entice fans to buy tickets to attend fight cards in Las Vegas, Los Angeles or New York arenas?

Talent is the key.

KingRy

Ryan “KingRy” Garcia is one of several key fighters that Golden Boy signed and his mercurial rise to the top of the boxing world has amazed and befuddled fans, promoters, and fighters. On just Instagram alone he has nearly 9 million followers.

Does he possess the fighting skills, athleticism, grit and most of all the chin to withstand a punch from an elite prizefighter?

That’s the big question.

I’ve been covering boxing as a writer since 1985 when I wrote a story for a San Gabriel newspaper on the electrifying Marvin Hagler and Tommy Hearns fight. The reaction from readers convinced me that boxing’s hold on sports fans would always be strong. And during the 37 years of studying fighters and watching their rise and fall I’ve seen just a handful of prizefighters that had that certain something aside from talent.

Garcia has that certain something. Its rare.

Strangely, De La Hoya had that certain something too and I vividly remember his introduction to the pro fight world back in 1992. At the time, I was working for the LA Times and was assigned to write a feature story on his rise to fame from a small unknown kid from Garfield High in East L.A. to Olympic gold in the 1992 Barcelona Games.

De La Hoya admitted there are similarities but huge differences due to social media platforms. They didn’t exist in the early 1990s.

“I actually wonder how I would really deal with social media,” said De La Hoya about the difference between Garcia and himself under the public eye. “It’s a different pressure. In today’s world you can’t help but hear what people think.”

When Garcia departed from trainer Eddy Reynoso’s camp it erupted into a firestorm of response from pseudo-experts who claimed to know the reasons. Then Saul “Canelo” Alvarez chimed in too and that sparked more response and conclusions.

Garcia and his family were respectful of Reynoso and Canelo and said there is a reason that came to light when the lightweight star was unable to perform due to mental pressures outside of the boxing world.

Canelo recently said on social media that Garcia showed up in one instance and stayed for only 20 minutes before departing. And that it displayed lack of dedication and that trainer Reynoso cannot be blamed.

Henry Garcia, father of Ryan, explained that during that 20-minute occasion, his son Ryan was going through the mental pressures and could not concentrate. It was not a lack of dedication.

“I knew he wasn’t 100 percent,” said Henry Garcia regarding his son’s mental state at that time.

Mental recuperation and power jabs

Ryan Garcia said he sought professional help and was able to return to normal and return to boxing.

“It was never boxing related,” said Ryan Garcia about his taking a break due to mental pressures. “I love boxing.”

Garcia said his goal has always been to reach the top of the boxing world like Canelo Alvarez and De La Hoya before him.

De La Hoya admitted that he too was also was knocked off his path due to mental pressures when he fought. And that he admires Garcia for publicly admitting he needed help.

“I think what Ryan did, was the right thing to do. Talk it up. Get help,” said De La Hoya. “Bottling it up didn’t do so well for me.”

Garcia seemed energetic and composed speaking about his upcoming clash with Ghana’s Emmanuel Tagoe, a lightweight fighter avoided by the top fighters in the lightweight division.

It’s been more than a year since Garcia fought Luke Campbell in Dallas, Texas, and it will be 15 months when he actually enters the boxing ring to fight Tagoe on April 9. Will ring rust emerge and will a change in trainers from Reynoso to Joe Goossen cause a stumble?

Garcia confidently disagreed.

“I still got my timing and my precision,” said Garcia who posted footage of his workouts with Joe Goossen on social media platforms. “Boxing is what always makes me hungry.”

De La Hoya said he’s seen the footage and what impressed him most of Garcia working with Goossen has been a focus on the power jab.

“With Ryan throwing that power jab that’s the key to it all,” said De La Hoya who was known for his power jab that led to him winning six division world titles as a fighter during the 90s and 2000s. “I see some good things.”

New trainer Joe Goossen has worked with countless other world champions the past 40 years including Michael Nunn, Gabe and Rafael Ruelas, Diego Corrales, Joel Casamayor and many more.

“Joe Goossen has a lot of experience,” said Garcia in selecting Goossen to be his trainer. “He said he’s taken a lot of guys with a lot less talent to world titles.”

Photo credits: Al Applerose

End of Pt 1 of 2.