Ryan Garcia’s comeback fight in April could lead to a world title shot later in the year.
The 23-year-old last fought in January 2021 stopping Luke Campbell in a terrific lightweight fight which saw the Brit eventually retire from the sport.
Since then, the American has had time away from the sport due to mental health reasons and injury but his 22 nd professional fight now looks set for April 9.
Garcia’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya confirmed that his star fighter will face Emmanuel Tagoe at the Alamodome in San Antonio, live on DAZN.
Tagoe, who lost on his pro debut in 2004 but has never tasted defeat in 32 fights since, will be having his third fight away from home. His two wins in America came against Gerardo Robles and Mason Menard.
The Ghanian has also picked up victories against former world lightweight title challenger Paulus Moses and one-time super-featherweight champion Mzonke Fana albeit in the final stages of their careers.
Should Garcia come through Tagoe then a shot at current lightweight number one George Kambosos Jr may lie in wait. The champion has been in negotiations with Devin Haney for an undisputed title fight but Dan Rafael reports that DAZN, where Kambosos’ next fight will land, favours Garcia over Haney.
The Australian would take a tune-up fight before facing ‘KingRy’.
Interestingly, Tagoe has the same promoter (Lou DiBella), trainer (Javiel Centeno) and manager (Peter Kahn) as Kambosos.