Ryan Garcia

Ryan Garcia (born August 8, 1998) is an American professional boxer. Born in California, Garcia started boxing at the age of seven and became a 15-time national amateur champion. He turned professional at age 17. He held the World Boxing Council (WBC) interim lightweight title in 2021. Garcia was expelled by the WBC in July 2024 after a series of controversial comments.

Amateur career
Garcia started boxing at the age of seven and dreamed of one day representing the United States in the 2016 Olympics. He became a 15-time national amateur champion and amassed an amateur record of 215–15.

Early career
Garcia turned professional at age 17 on June 9, 2016. In his first professional bout, he fought against Edgar Meza in Tijuana, winning the match by TKO. Garcia soon signed with Golden Boy Promotions in November 2016. Oscar De La Hoya announced Garcia would make his debut on December 17, 2016, on the Smith-Hopkins light-heavyweight main event at The Forum. Garcia won the fight by knockout in the second round.

In October 2018, he started training with Eddy Reynoso, who also trained Canelo Álvarez and Óscar Valdez at their gym in San Diego, California.

In September 2019, Garcia extended his contract with a new five-year deal with Golden Boy Promotions. Specific details of the multi-year deal were not disclosed. Garcia had a cancelled fight with Avery Sparrow.

Garcia vs. Duno
Golden Boy announced Garcia's next bout would be the co-main event of Canelo Álvarez vs. Sergey Kovalev at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. On September 18, 2019 Romero Duno was announced as Garcia's next opponent. Garcia defeated Duno with a first-round knockout, capturing the WBC Silver lightweight title.

Garcia vs. Fonseca
On January 2, 2020, Golden Boy announced Garcia would be facing Francisco Fonseca on February 14 at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Garcia landed seven punches in the fight before landing a lead left hook which knocked out Fonseca in the first round.

Garcia vs. Campbell
On October 8, it was announced Garcia would be facing Olympic gold medalist Luke Campbell for the interim WBC lightweight title at Fantasy Springs Resort in Indio, California. The fight was originally scheduled for December 5, 2020, but was pushed back to January 2, 2021, due to Campbell contracting COVID-19. The venue was also changed to the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. In round 2 of his fight with Campbell, Garcia was knocked down for the first time in his professional career. He had survived the knockdown, as he got up shortly after hitting the canvas. Later on in the fight, in round 7, Garcia hit Luke Campbell with a fight-ending body shot. CompuBox statistics show Garcia outlanded Campbell 94 to 74 (32%) in total punches, and 77 to 51 (44%) in power punches, with Campbell outlanding Garcia in jabs 23 to 17 (15%). The fight was ultimately Campbell's last bout before his retirement.

Cancelled bouts vs. Fortuna and Diaz
On April 13, 2021, it was announced by DAZN that Garcia would defend his newly won WBC interim lightweight title against Dominican former WBA (Regular) super featherweight champion, Javier Fortuna. The bout was set for July 9 in a location to be determined, and the winner would become the mandatory challenger to WBC lightweight champion, Devin Haney. However, on April 24, Garcia announced he had withdrawn from the bout, in order to "manage his health and well being". Former IBF super featherweight champion Joseph Diaz agreed to move up to lightweight to fill in for Garcia and fight Fortuna on July 9. Garcia was subsequently stripped of his newly crowned WBC interim lightweight title, with the title being on the line for Diaz and Fortuna instead.

On October 8, 2021, it was announced that Garcia would be challenging Joseph Diaz in Los Angeles on November 27 for his WBC interim lightweight title following Díaz's victory over Fortuna, the same title Garcia had held after beating Luke Campbell and was subsequently stripped of earlier in 2021. On October 15, 2021, Mike Coppinger of ESPN revealed that García suffered a hand injury and the fight with Diaz will be postponed.

Garcia vs. Tagoe
On February 4, 2022, it was announced that Garcia would be returning to the ring after a long spell of inactivity against former IBO lightweight champion Emmanuel Tagoe on April 9. He easily dominated Tagoe and scored a knockdown in Round 2, winning a unanimous decision with the scores of 119–108, 119-108 and 118–109.

After the fight, Garcia left Reynoso and started training with Joe Goossen.

Garcia vs. Fortuna
On July 16, 2022, Garcia faced Javier Fortuna in a super lightweight bout in Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. Garcia dominated the fight scoring knockdowns in rounds four, five and six, with the referee stopping the fight after the third knockdown. All the judges had scored the fight identically 50–43 prior to the stoppage, giving Garcia every round. Garcia received praise for his performance, which was described as being an improvement over his performance against Tagoe.

Garcia vs. Davis
On February 24, 2023, it was announced that Garcia would face Gervonta Davis on April 22, in Las Vegas, Nevada, in a 136 lbs catchweight contest. The long-awaited bout was a joint PPV event between Showtime and DAZN. Davis knocked down Garcia in the second round and then also in the seventh round from a body shot. Garcia was unable to rise on the referee's count of ten, leading to Gervonta Davis being declared winner via KO. Following the fight, Garcia was criticized by some boxing figures for not rising in the seventh round. In an appearance on Max on Boxing, Timothy Bradley said that Garcia "quit," stating: "Listen to me. If you can get up at 11, why can't you get up at 9? If you can look up, you can get up, Max, and he chose not to." Promoter Eddie Hearn stated, "you can't say that he didn't quit. But I don’t blame him for doing it, like most people in that position would've done that. But quitting is deciding not to continue and he decided not to continue." This was Garcia's first loss as a professional.

Garcia left his trainer, Goossen, a week after the Davis fight and hired Derrick James as his trainer in May 2023.

Garcia vs. Duarte
Garcia faced Oscar Duarte at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The fight took place on December 2, 2023. Garcia won the fight by KO in the 8th round after landing a combination late in the round rendering Duarte unable to beat the count of the referee.

Garcia vs. Haney
On February 9, 2024, it was announced that Garcia vs. Devin Haney was signed for April 20 in Las Vegas, Nevada for the WBC super lightweight title. Two days before the fight, Garcia agreed to a wager with Haney that Garcia would pay $500,000 for every pound over the limit should he miss weight. Garcia later weighed in at 143.2lbs, 3.2lbs over the championship limit, and would forfeit up to $600,000 of his purse to Haney. Garcia was not eligible to win the title.

Garcia won the bout via majority decision (114–110, 115–109, 112–112), knocking down Haney in rounds 7, 10 and 11 before coming away with the victory. On May 1, Voluntary Anti-Doping Association notified all involved parties that Garcia had tested positive for Ostarine, a performance-enhancing drug, the day before and the day of his fight with Haney. Garcia responded via social media, denying the accusations and citing his willingness to take the drug test. On June 20, the bout was changed to a no contest; Garcia was fined $1.1 million and suspended for a year due to using Ostarine after taking the plea deal over taking it to trial.

Expelled from WBC
On July 4, 2024, Garcia was expelled by the WBC president Mauricio Sulaimán after using racial slurs against Black people and disparaging Muslims in comments livestreamed on social media. Sulaiman said that Garcia declined multiple attempts by the WBC to help with his mental health and substance abuse. Garcia's family released a statement saying, "Ryan has been open about his ongoing struggle with mental health over the years and as a family we are committed to ensuring and encouraging that he receives the necessary help to navigate this very challenging time and address both his immediate and long-term well-being."

Other ventures
In 2019, Garcia starred as Sonny Mendoza in the Brat teen web series On the Ropes.

During 2021, Garcia signed a deal with sports drink Gatorade to appear on television commercials advertising the brand, thus becoming the first American boxer ever to appear on a Gatorade campaign.

Personal life
Garcia comes from a large family. His parents have been actively involved with his career since he was an amateur. They continue to assist him with his professional career as his father remains one of his trainers and his mother works as his personal administrative assistant for commercial projects. Garcia attended Adelanto High School before leaving due to amateur boxing commitments. In March 2019, Garcia's daughter was born.

Although American by birth and nationality, Garcia often incorporates his Mexican heritage into his persona. He often carries both the U.S. and Mexican flags into the ring and frequently wears red, white, and blue colors. His walk out and victory music has frequently been "El Rey" by Vicente Fernández, a reference to Garcia's "King Ryan" nickname.

In December 2022, Garcia began training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Rener Gracie.

He supported Donald Trump for president in 2024, with the campaign publicly touting his endorsement.

In June 2024, Garcia was arrested for damaging a room and hallway in the Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills, California. According the Beverly Hills Police Department, the hotel stated that Garcia caused an estimated $15,000 in damage. The next month, Garcia would be criminally charged with one misdemeanor count of vandalism, for which he faces up to a year in prison.