Trainer Teofimo Lopez Sr. feels that Ryan Garcia was out there all by himself without any real guidance from his coach Joe Goosen for his fight last Saturday night against Gervonta Davis.
Lopez Sr. says he listened to Goosen’s instructions in the corner, and he wasn’t telling Ryan (23-1, 19 KOs) to stop going to his right the entire night, which is a no-no when fighting a southpaw.
Teofimo Sr states that Goosen was just a “motivational” coach in the corner and was completely useless, failing to give Ryan the instructions that he needed for him to defeat Tank.
Ryan Garcia fought a horrible fight
“I never said Ryan was going to win the fight. I said it was a ’50-50 fight, and the only way he was going to win was by the check left hook,'” said Teofimo Lopez Sr to Mill City Boxing, clarifying his previous comments on the Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia fight last weekend.
“I never said Ryan was going to win. I never had Ryan winning because Ryan is really chinny, especially in his fight against Luke Campbell. I knew he was chinny. I knew this guy was going to get him.
“He fought the worst fight of his life, and you know what is so crazy is that nobody saw what he was going wrong. His corner couldn’t even tell him that. He [Ryan] was stepping to his right the whole night. You don’t fight a southpaw like that.
“You got to step to the left; stay away from the left hand. The dude [Ryan] was fighting to the right the whole fight. That’s why he never had a body shot. He never went to the body,” said Lopez Sr.
Goosen gave “no directions”
“I was listening to the commentating in the corner, and [Joe] Goosen never told him anything. It was just like, ‘You’re doing good. Just keep it up.’ He was never giving him no directions,” said Teofimo Sr.
“‘You’re going to the wrong side. Stop stepping to the right. He’s going to catch you with that left hand. I guess, yes,” said Teofimo Sr when asked if Ryan Garcia would have been better if he’d stayed with his previous trainer Eddy Reynoso.
“There was no coaching at all in the corner. That coach [Joe Goosen] was a motivational coach. That’s all he was in that fight. Go look at the fight. Not even the commentators saw that s**t.
“You could peep that s**t right away in the first round. I told my son, ‘He’s going to get slipped. He’s going to lose. He’s going to get knocked out. He’s stepping to the right.’ When you’re boxing a left-handed dude, you’ve got to step to the left so that you can catch that body and the head.
“Just picture it. That jab was beautiful. He should have kept on doing that jab. Jab-jab-jab, step to the left. Fake the jab and go down to the body and come up to the top. That’s why Tank was laughing because he knew he had him.
“A southpaw always wants you to come to his left. They love that s**t. As soon as you do that, they know they got you. Tank knew it was just a matter of time. You could see that in his face, and that’s why Ryan got frustrated because he saw him smirt and saw him laughing.
“That’s why Tank said, ‘I had him because I got inside his head. I knew I got inside his head. That’s why he got all aggressive. He just wanted to finish it,’ and he got popped. He would have never got popped with that left hand if he’d moved to the right.
“After you finish your combo, you throw a left hand, and it’s going to hit some part of his body because he’s rolling to the right. Look at the whole fight.
“You haven’t heard this from nobody. Nobody mentioned that s**t. Exactly, because they don’t know s**t about boxing. Listen, I’m not thinking I’m the best coach on the planet.
“I won the best ‘Coach of the Year for 2020.’ I guarantee you that I’m going to be the best coach of the year for this year, too, for 2023,” said Teofimo Sr.
