King Ry: The Story of Ryan Garcia
After winning via unanimous decision against former two-division world champion from the Dominican Republic, Javier Fortuna on Friday, Joseph Diaz, also a former world champion said that he is now ready to face the top boxers at 135 pounds - including Ryan Garcia.
Who Is Ryan Garcia?
Golden Boy Promotion's Ryan Garcia is well known for winning his matches via knockout in the first two rounds of the bout. The 22-year-old has had 21 matches, 18 of those he won by knockout and he remains undefeated.
Moreover, Garcia is also one of the most popular boxers of his generation. He has more than 47 million followers on Instagram. The 22-year-old was also named as the prospect of the year by ESPN in 2017.
Garcia's Boxing Career
Ryan Garcia was introduced to boxing at a young age of seven. When he was a kid, he trained with his father in their family garage. Upon stepping foot on the canvas, Garcia showed great promise as he made five knockout victories out of his first six matches.
According to Garcia's Biography, the undefeated fighter has also incorporated his Mexican heritage into his personality. Moreover, Garcia is known to carry both Mexican and American colors into the ring, where he usually sports red, blue, and white colors.
Born in Victorville, Garcia made an outstanding career as an amateur with a 215-15 record. In addition, he also won more than a dozen Nationa Gold Media Championships. He was also a gold medalist for the Youth Worlds 2016, and he was part of the USA Youth Olympic Boxing team.
On June 9, 2016, Garcia opened his professional career with a first-round knockout victory against Edgar Meza.
In 2018, Garcia met his most formidable foe. He faced off with Jason Velez who made him fight for 10 rounds, which he has never done before. Despite the challenging bout, Garcia still came out victorious. He was declared the winner via unanimous decision.
Before 2018 ended, Garcia also faced off Braulio Rodriguez and Carlos Morales inside the boxing ring.
In 2019, Garcia renewed his contract with Golden Boy Promotions. He secured what was dubbed as "one of the most lucrative deals in history for a boxing prospect."
The Champion Takes a Break
Late in April, just two weeks after his supposed fight with Javier Fortuna became official, Ryan Garcia withdrew from the face-off. The bout was supposed to happen on July 9th. However, the young boxer pulled out to take care of his mental health, CBS Sports reported.
In an Instagram post, Garcia apologized to the fans that were disappointed in him pulling out of the fight.
"At this time, it is important to manage my health and well-being. I have decided to take some time off to focus on becoming a stronger version of myself. I hope to be back soon and am looking forward to stepping back into the ring when I am my healthiest self," Garcia wrote.
As of the moment, it is still not sure when the undefeated boxer and young prodigy would step foot on the canvas again.
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WATCH:RYAN GARCIA - THE STORY OF "KING RY" - Big Time Boxing