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Popular lightweight Ryan Garcia 22-0 (18) returned to the ring after a 15 month layoff to defeat Emmanuel ‘The Gameboy’ Tagoe 32-2 (15) by virtual shutout at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas on Saturday night.
The 33-year-old Tagoe of Accra, Ghana was on the deck in the second round and fought a mostly defensive fight after that, going down by scores of 108-119, 109-118 and 108-119.
“He was making it difficult for me to end it,” the 23-year-old Garcia of Los Angeles said. “He was crafty with the holding and I was trying to get him off me and he was moving a lot.
“It was a new experience. I think I have to cut the ring off better with a guy who will keep moving all 12 rounds. I made sure to get him in the body a lot and used my left hook to hurt him.
“I have a lot of love for San Antonio. It was great that after a year and a half layoff, I was received by such a great crowd. It’s a blessing. I wanted to knock him out, but he was very crafty. At the moment, I could feel like I hurt him, but he really can take a punch.”
“First of all I want to thank my team,” Tagoe said. “I know the reason why I lost. I didn’t throw my right arm. He came forward but I couldn’t get any points from pushing. I think I’m going to go home and sit down with my team. Ryan Garcia is a good boxer.”
“I think Ryan did a fantastic job, after a one-and-a-half layoff,” said promoter Oscar De La Hoya, chairman and CEO of Golden Boy Promotions. “He fought a tough guy from Ghanna with only one defeat, he was slick, he was tough, he was surviving the whole night. Ryan almost had him out but I am glad Ryan went 12-rounds, it was a great experience.”
“In between rounds I was just telling him you’ve got to track him down,” said Garcia’s new trainer Joe Goossen.
“He’s not going to engage you just have to keep the pressure on. He’s a tough kid. He only has one loss in the beginning of his career. He’s been on a win streak for a very long time.
“He has a great chin. He was in great shape and he came here to win. He didn’t come here to lose. But after a while he was not trying to win, he was just trying to survive. Ryan was then trying to track him down and trying to catch him.
“Tahoe was not being very agreeable and he didn’t engage to fight a lot. Who will we fight next? I take a back seat to all of that. They don’t come to the gym and tell me how to train my guys and I don’t go to their office and tell them how to make fights. When they throw something at me I say that sounds good to me and we go to work.”
As for what’s next for Tagoe, that’s still up in the air.
“We’re going to talk to [promoter Lou] Dibella and see what’s next,” said Peter Kahn, manager of Tagoe.
“Emmanuel went 12 rounds with Ryan. Emmanuel was out of the ring longer than Ryan so I think that’s a victory.
“I think we learned that Emmanuel has a chin, he took some big shots tonight. It was a good fight and Ryan performed really well.”
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