LOS ANGELES — Ryan Garcia stepped away from his fast-rising career to focus on his mental health, leading to a 15-month hiatus that caused many to forget his place in boxing.
Garcia’s left hooks proved he belonged among boxing’s best, the same punches he used Saturday night to remind critics of his skill set. The Victorville native used a series of left hooks to drop Javier Fortuna three times in as many rounds before recording a sensational sixth-round stoppage at Crypto.com Arena.
“It felt like it was a statement to come back to the timeline I was at,” Garcia said in the ring. “(People said) I’m some guy who doesn’t care about boxing, but I showed nothing but heart and skills.”
Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs) initially planned to fight Fortuna (37-4-1, 26 KOs) last July, but decided to withdraw from the bout to focus on his mental health. Garcia was coming off the best victory of his career after he connected with a memorable left hook to the body to defeat Luke Campbell in January 2021. Garcia was ascending and had an abundance of blockbuster bouts in front of him before he paused his career.
Garcia, 23, officially returned to his peak timeline after he dropped Fortuna for the first time in the fourth round, using a left hook that resembled the knockout punch he connected against Campbell. Garcia dropped Fortuna again in the fifth round before landing a devastating one-two combination that ended with a left hand to drop Fortuna for good. The official stopped the bout 27 seconds into the sixth round.
The circle is complete and now Garcia can prioritize his pursuit of a mega-bout with Gervonta “Tank” Davis.
“I will fight Tank next,” Garcia said. “If he wants it, let’s get it.”
In order to make the blockbuster bout, the two sides will need to overcome a handful of obstacles, including weight class, TV rights and financial split. Garcia is promoted by Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions with his fights streaming on DAZN. Davis resides with Floyd Mayweather’s Mayweather Promotions, which tends to do business with Showtime and FOX.
Garcia said he won’t let ego get in the way of money matters and would consider a 60-40 split in favor of Davis to make the bout come to fruition. Garcia recently suggested a December fight with Davis at SoFi Stadium for the first boxing event at the 70,000-seat Inglewood venue.
“See y’all at the end of the year,” Davis tweeted after Garcia’s victory.
“I want to do SoFi Stadium,” Garcia said earlier in the week about possibly fighting Davis. “If anything in L.A. and just sell that out and go crazy. …I think that would be a sellout. I think that we’ll have one of the biggest events in L.A. The biggest event in L.A. in 2022, for sure.”
Both fighters have experience competing at lightweight and junior welterweight, but Garcia might now push for the latter weight class after delivering a sensational performance against Fortuna, who made a last-minute request to change the bout from 135 pounds to 140. Garcia used his noticeable size advantage and fast hands to set the tone against Fortuna.
Garcia has spent most of his career at lightweight, which is arguably the deepest division in boxing, with undisputed champion Devin Haney, Vasiliy Lomachenko and Davis.
“The whole lightweight division is good,” Garcia said. “You don’t just get here by being average. They’re all above average fighters, but I’m just that much better. Actually, I’m probably levels and talent wise better.”
Related Articles
UFC’s Brian Ortega injures shoulder in loss to Yair Rodriguez
UFC’s Brian Ortega faces Yair Rodriguez with momentum in his corner
Ryan Garcia sticks to his truth in circle-back bout with Javier Fortuna
UFC 276: Volkanovski, Adesanya easily defend their titles
UNDERCARD NOTES
UFC’s Brian Ortega injures shoulder in loss to Yair Rodriguez
UFC’s Brian Ortega faces Yair Rodriguez with momentum in his corner
Ryan Garcia sticks to his truth in circle-back bout with Javier Fortuna
UFC 276: Volkanovski, Adesanya easily defend their titles
Santa Ana native Alexis Rocha punished Luis Veron throughout their 10-round welterweight match that served as the co-main event to Garcia-Fortuna. Rocha, who received loud ovations from his hometown fans, won by unanimous decision with scores of 100-90, 100-90 and 99-91.
Rocha improved his record 20-1 with 13 knockouts and has won his past four fights since suffering his first career defeat versus Rashidi Ellis in 2020.
Rialto’s Ricardo Sandoval fell short in his slugfest flyweight bout against David Jimenez to open the DAZN broadcast. Jimenez (12-0, 9 KOs) recorded a majority decision with scores of 114-112, 114-112 and 113-113.
“I felt like I was boxing him correctly so I feel very good,” Sandoval (20-2, 15 KOs) said. “I was also countering him downstairs and upstairs, but you know these things happen. I felt like I won the fight. The people won tonight and got one hell of a fight.”
See y’all the end of the year..#TheONE
— Gervonta Davis (@Gervontaa) July 17, 2022
3rd time’s a charm, Ryan Garcia drops Fortuna for the 3rd and final time #GarciaFortuna | on @daznboxing pic.twitter.com/iGGtd0wmhZ
— Golden Boy (@GoldenBoyBoxing) July 17, 2022