Ryan Garcia’s father, Henry Garcia, confirmed today that he’ll be returning in April in a “good fight” right off the bat after his suspension expires. Henry says Ryan’s January exhibition match against Jaber Zayani in Dubai will be his Tuneup to prepare him for his match in April.
As for the opponent in April, Henry says Teofimo Lopez is one of the names that they’re looking at. Henry feels certain the Teo fight will happen, but he’s not sure if it’ll be in April.
Obviously, negotiating a fight with the 27-year-old two-division world champion Teofimo is tricky, and there’s a high chance that he’ll price himself out by asking for an absurd number. It’s questionable how much interest there would be from fans in a Garcia vs. Teofimo fight because the New York star has dimmed due to repeated poor performances since 2021.
Teo has only looked good in one fight since his win over Vasily Lomachenko in 2020, and some believe he’s on the slide. Ryan would receive more attention from the boxing world if he fought someone like Gervonta Davis, Shakur Stevenson, or Jaron Ennis.
“Guaranteed. Ryan is coming back in April. It’s on,” said Henry Garcia to Fighthype about Ryan Garcia returning to the ring after his suspension expires in April 2025. “Him and Oscar [De La Hoya] already know. They already talked. It’s a done deal. We’re going to have a good fight right from the beginning [in April in Ryan’s first fight back].”
Hopefully, Ryan doesn’t regret his decision to fight someone good in April because it’s risky to face a high-level fighter after that long of a layoff. Teofimo is pretty flawed at this point and clearly deserved losses in his fights against Jamaine Ortiz and Sandor Martin. The judges saved Teofimo in both fights.
“They’re already setting things up. They’re communicating with Ryan. It’s a done deal,” said Henry. “In the meantime, you’ve got to have a tuneup, and Dubai is a tuneup [in January]. He ended up making a deal with somebody out there, and it seems like it’s going to happen. That’s in Dubai.
“His actual comeback, his real thing, is in April. I think it’ll be an exhibition,” said Henry about Ryan Garcia’s January fight in Dubai against 34-year-old Jaber Zayani.
“There are some names out there, and one he did mention is Teofimo [Lopez], and there will be some other ones that he mentioned that will be very surprising. It’s going to happen. Just like we said with Haney and Tank, it’s going to happen,” said Henry.
Besides the poor performances from Teofimo, the racist comments he’s made in interviews make him a questionable choice for Ryan to fight in April. If he chooses Teofimo, it would be inviting criticism from fans, and it would hurt the promotion.
“Ryan is very hard to beat when he’s totally himself. Without the conditions and all that, you cannot easily beat Ryan. He’s very smart, but he’s got power behind his punches. There’s a chance he can drop anybody when he’s 100%,” said Henry.
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