Ryan Garcia Returns With A DOMINANT Win Over Tagoe

Written by Jared Parry on 10th April 2022.

Ryan Garcia returned to the ring for the first time in 15 months as he defeated Emmanuel Tagoe on points in a dominant display.

Ring rust was expected from Garcia due to his long lay off, but Tagoe was looking more to survive than mix it up with Garcia leading to wide scorecards of 119-108 x2, and 118-109 in Garcia's favour.

Tagoe's survival intentions were clear from the off as he circled around the ring, Garcia attempted to trap him against the ropes multiple times.

Garcia managed to seat Tagoe in the second round, as he landed a clean right hand to send the Ghanian to the floor. Once Tagoe got back to his feet, normal service resumed as he once again began circling the ring.

It was in the 10th round when Garcia landed his best punches as he sent Tagoe stumbling around the ring, prompting the Ghanian to hold on.

Garcia went 12 rounds for the first time in his career as his hand was raised in victory, extending his record to 22-0.

Following the bout, Garcia gave his thoughts on the fight: "I think if I'd started pressing him harder in the beginning of the fight, I could have gotten him out of there, But what can I say? It was a track-down fight. I had to track him down. It was a new experience having to cut the ring off against a guy who was trying to fight to survive. I appreciate it."

Former world champion JoJo Diaz was in the studio for DAZN at the bout and made it known that he was ready to fight Garcia next.

The undercard saw WBC Flyweight champion Marlen Esparza add the WBA World title to her mantle as she defeated Naoko Fujioka on points. Shane Mosley Jr found himself back to winning ways as he beat the veteran Gabe Rosado.

Super lightweight George Rincon extended his record to 12-0 outpointing Alejandro Frias over 10. Azat Hovhannisyan produced a second round knockout victory over Dagoberto Aguero.

Controversy brewed in the Patrick Texeira vs Paul Valenzuela Cuesta fight, as Texeira found himself disqualified for an intentional rabbit punch, rendering Valenzuela unable to continue.

Heavyweight Tristan Kalkkreuth returned to winning ways knocing out Santander Silgado in two rounds. Featherweight Santo Ortega also produced a second round knockout over Jesus Martinez to keep his unbeaten record intact.

Finally, Featherweight Katsuma Akitsugi and Super bantamweight Hector Valdez remained undefeated, both outpointing their opponents over eight rounds.