Ryan Garcia's next fight will be against Oscar Duarte on Saturday, December 2, in a 12-round super lightweight boxing match at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
This will be KingRy's first fight since losing to Gervonta Davis in April. The 25-year-old boxer lost via knockout in the seventh round at the T-Mobile Arena in Nevada, the first loss of his professional boxing career, BBC reported.
Garcia shed some light on why he failed to beat the 10 count against Davis via ESPN.
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"I was close to getting up for sure," Garcia said. "... I couldn't breathe. ... I don't want to make no excuses. .. I just couldn't recover. ... He caught me with a good body shot."
It was a disappointing end, considering the Garcia vs. Davis bout was one of the biggest commercial events since Canelo Alvarez's rematch against Gennady Golovkin in 2018.
Moving forward, Alvarez is aware he needs to get back on track. It starts with Duarte, a dangerous opponent, considering he is coming off 11 knockouts in a row, SI.com reported.
"There's a guy who's a power puncher who's going to come forward and make Ryan fight. It's the proper fight after a knockout loss to Gervonta," promoter Oscar De La Hoya quipped.
It is the first step for Garcia to get his coveted rematch against Davis, which may take place in 2024.
Here are the things that Garcia needs to address en route to that potential Gervonta Davis rematch in 2024.
1. Garcia needs an impressive win over Duarte.
As mentioned earlier, "The Flash" must get back on the winning track first. Although Garcia is favored to win, there remains a small chance that the American boxer could pull off an upset.
It is something that Garcia cannot afford right now. Duarte's skills may not be enough to pull off a win, especially if Ry connects on his patented left hook.
Regardless, Garcia needs to dig deep to come out with an impressive win as his road to redemption starts this weekend.
2. Ryan Garcia needs to focus on boxing.
It is no secret that the working relationship of Garcia and De La Hoya has not exactly been on point. Contract issues are in the air, although that appears to be on hold for now.
"Again, all the legal stuff, I just leave to my lawyers and let them handle it. So, I haven't really thought about it too much. Just focus on the fight. And that's it," Garcia said.
Hence, the contract issue is on hold for now. But depending on the outcome of the Garcia vs. Duarte fight, expect fireworks to spark once more.
3. Garcia needs to figure out how to manage his popularity.
There is no question that Ryan Garcia can rise even more. The loss to Davis was unfortunate, a mess he needs to clean up. Regardless if he is highly favored to prevail over Duarte, his performance will be essential.
Garcia holds a -550 odds to win compared to Duarte's +340 per the Action Network. The over/under is 8.5 rounds (-112/-112).
Even if he is picked to win, Garcia would best try to go for a knockout against Duarte. Hence, it all boils down to how well KingRy executes and delivers against Duarte at the Toyota Center this Saturday.
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