Lightweight phenom Ryan Garcia (22-0, 18 KOs) stayed unbeaten on Saturday night coming off a long layoff to defeat his tune-opponent Emmanuel Tagoe (32-2, 15 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
Tagoe spoiled Ryan’s ring return by choosing to survive, not putting himself in danger, and certainly not trying to win the fight.
Anytime Ryan would get close, Tagoe would grab him in a clinch to keep him from landing anything significant. It was obvious from the earliest moments of the fight that Tagoe’s game plan was to tie Ryan up whenever he got close.
The scores were: 119-108, 119-108, and 118-109. The 23-year-old Ryan’s best moment in the fight came in the second round when he dropped Tagoe with a right hand to the head. Everything after that proved to be a disappointment.
Tagoe seemed to gain confidence in the later rounds, attacking Ryan and making him look inept.
Ryan did a poor job of cutting off the ring on Tagoe, which enabled the Ghanian fighter to easily elude him. Heck, after the bell sounded at the end of the fight, Ryan still couldn’t get to him.
Tagoe exposed Ryan in a number of areas starting with his inability to cut off the ring.
The flaws Tagoe exposed in Ryan:
- No jab
- Unable to cut off the ring
- Weak right hand
- Can’t land a left hook on a moving target
- Unwilling to put himself in harm’s way
- No inside game
- Unable to fight through a clinch
One of the biggest flaws in Ryan’s game is his unwillingness to risk getting hit in order to land his own shots. He doesn’t seem to be willing to risk taking a shot in order to land his own punches.
That’s the reason why Ryan wasn’t letting his hands go because he only wanted to throw when he was certain he wouldn’t get hit.
In the second round, Ryan knocked Tagoe down after catching him with a couple of hard right hands. Tagoe felt that the knockdown was bogus, saying he got shoved, but the referee let it stand.
Tagoe started to gain confidence in the sixth, as he seemed to realize that he could handle Ryan’s power without getting hurt. As long as Tagoe moved, there wasn’t much Ryan could do.
“Nothing but respect for Tagoe, crafty. He was moving a lot, I have to cut off the ring a little better,” said Ryan after the fight.
“I think if I would have pressed him harder in the beginning, I may have gotten him out of there. It was a track-down fight as I had to track him down.”
“Felt great with Joe Goossen. Very comfortable in the ring. I love Joe.”
“I have been all about the callouts (on fighting Tank next), but I have grown and matured and I will let my team handle it,” said Ryan.
