Ryan Garcia Looks The Part Of A Star, But Needs The Big Fight!
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Garcia Stops Fortuna
The Ryan Garcia journey continues as the teen-star boxer turned boxing/entertainer stopped Javier Fortuna in six rounds. The bout sums up everything about Garcia to this point.
So let’s go through it.
First, Garcia is a teen star turned young adult social media icon.
Garcia seemingly is boxing’s Ryan Sheckler, a skateboarder, who defied skateboarding’s social norms and went for commercial gain rather than following the traditions of trendsetters. Sheckler inevitably got embraced, but it took nearly a decade, and he had to do things far war scary than most in his position.
Second, do we know if Ryan Garcia cares about championships or legacy?
Ryan Garcia is in his third weight class now at 140 lbs., and seemingly doesn’t care one bit that he hasn’t won a world title. Instead, words used like stardom, and the amount of money he makes are what Garcia equates to his accolades and achievements. Beyond that, he is a pretty boy in a sport that rewards hooligans, misfits, and angry people. That which makes him a star will also make him dislike as well.
The one thing I do respect is that Garcia is not facing paper champions winning vacant titles to become a world champion. I do commend that, but don’t love ho-humming, world titles which are the thing we all view greatness by.
In this bout, we saw Fortuna, who asked for the bout to be moved to 140 lbs., and appeared to have a belly, and looked as bad physically as he ever has.
That being said, Garcia is, in my opinion, the biggest puncher currently at 135 lbs, as his mixture of speed and power is special. He truly has something that a lot of fighters don’t have. It is just we have seen nearly half of a decade go by with Garcia not advancing much in the sport.
Oh, and his biggest issue is his ability to pull straight back in a manner that as a viewer you expect for him to get caught one day.
As for this fight, Garcia dropped Fortuna in the fourth, again in the fifth in which Fortuna seemingly lost all ability to fight, and in the sixth Garcia got the stoppage win. This was a credible win for Garcia, clouded by the new weight class as this was the highest weight Fortuna had ever fought at, but
After the fight, Garcia said this.
“I felt way better at this weight. I’m not going down to 135 for nothing [SIC]. But I will fight Tank next if he wants it at 140. I’ll make sure to record all the negotiations so you can’t say I was ducking. I want that fight because it’s going to give me the respect I deserve. I’m never afraid. I have a spirit of competition in me and you’re going to see that come out when I fight Tank and whoop his ass.”
For all the talking, I hope the fight happens.
One thing is clear, Ryan Garcia has atheltic traits that make him an interesting fighter to follow.
undercard
The co-main and bout before it was nearly identical as Alexis “Lex” Rocha got a ten-round decision over Luis Veron for the NABO Welterweight Title in a 10-round fight. Rocha hurt Veron, but the world was shocked when the bout went the full duration, as this went from a showcase to a tedious affair.
Lamont Roach Jr., in the bout prior, went the distance against tough opponent Angel Rodriguez to win the WBA Super Featherweight Title Eliminator. Roach Jr. looked so much stronger than his opponent with the landed punches, and the outcome was never in doubt it stole some of the drama and achievement from the win.
Flyweight David Jimenez got a majority decision over Ricardo “El Nino” Sandoval for the WBA Flyweight Title Eliminator. The bout was by far the best of the evening on this card and was capped off by an 11th round, that saw Sandoval was dropped and nearly stopped, as he was saved by the bell. Sandoval landed more punches, and Jimenez landed the more memorable punches, as the fight was very close.
Diego De La Hoya won on the early prelims that were on YouTube, which for a twenty-plus win fighter should be a wake-up call if you’re fighting on that position on a card. This was his first fight back after a long lay-off, but De La Hoya is someone Golden Boy once had high hopes for, but he has to earn his spot at this point.
Barboza Wins, Wants Teo
Junior welterweight contender Arnold Barboza Jr. climbed his way up from the opening bout to headlining in a Southern California ESPN card against Danielito Zorrilla, as Barboza won a decision against the tough undefeated fighter.
Not unlike Joe Smith Jr. winning a world title, Barboza Jr. having a show built around him, felt like a homecoming, and despite what he would more than likely say was not his best performance, he felt he waited too long to return to the ring. It was still a time when someone earned his spot, rather than was given it, and that is becoming increasingly rare these days in boxing.
After the fight, Barboza said.
“My manager knows, if we can’t get a title shot, you know who it is. We want Teofimo. It’s either a title shot or him.”
Undercard
Lightweight Raymond “Danger” Muratalla defeated Jair Valtierra as he dropped Valtierra in the fourth, and won every round of an eight-round decision. The RGBA boxer, was on the card prior, but took the opponent originally scheduled for Keyshawn Davis, when Davis had to pull out of the bout due to illness.
Heavyweight U.S. Olympic silver medalist Richard Torrez Jr. stopped Roberto ZavalaJr. in less than a minute. Torrez Jr. coming off a long lay-off after a headclash in his pro debut, brutalized Zavala, who the referee stopped the bout early based on the amount of clean punches Zavala was taking.
Torrez Jr. will fight next month, on Aug. 27 on the ESPN-televised undercard of the Jose Pedraza-Richard Commey main event in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Heavyweight Stephan Shaw got a first-round KO of Bernardo Marquez. Shaw is a guy who could face the likes Jared Anderson, Guido Vianello, and many others from the Top Rank stable.
Floyd Diaz picked up a third-round KO Pedro Salome.
A sneaky fun fight Adrian Yung, who was Muratalla’s originally opponent fought to a draw with local favorite Jorge Marron Jr.
Club Shows
Dylan Price won a regional title on the east coast, as the bantamweight is nearly the point of getting a fight on a ShoBox-like platform. Being in a division in which one of the world’s best fighters, Naoya Inoue fights simply means, he might just wait until Inoue inevitably moves out of the division, as it seems that is more than likely soon.
Welterweight contender Quinton Randall won an eight-rounder headlining a UFC Fight Pass card during the weekday. Randall has all the talent to be a world champion, and a promoter in Next Up Promotions putting money behind him.
MMA In 500 Words Or Less
Yair Rodriguez won via first-round TKO over Brian Ortega when Ortega suffered a shoulder injury. After the fight, Ortega apologized to the fans and hinted at maybe a third shoulder surgery.
In a young eats the old fight, Amanda Lemos submitted popular UFC fighter, Michelle Waterson.
Always fun brawler, Li Jingliang got a fun second-round knockout.
Lauren Murphy outpointed Miesha Tate, as Tate’s comeback might be nearing the end after losing two fights.
Current Invicta champion Emily Ducote made a successful debut defeating a former Invicta champ in Jessica Penne.
