Ryan Garcia Vs. Emmanuel Tagoe fight prediction, undercard, odds, start time, preview, expert pick

When it comes to the much-anticipated return of unbeaten lightweight Ryan Garcia following a tumultuous 14-month layoff, Emmanuel Tagoe has pulled a few punches in regards to letting the world know he plans on playing spoiler on Saturday.

Tagoe (32-1, 15 KOs), a 33-year-old native of Ghana, will look to make his name throughout the sport against Garcia (21-0, 18 KOs) when they square off inside the Alamodome in San Antonio for a main event set for a catchweight of 139 pounds (9 pm ET, DAZN – subscribe now).

“I think I have the tools to knock out Ryan on Saturday. This fight is an opportunity for me to showcase myself,” Tagoe said. “I came here to knock out Ryan Garcia. I think he’s good but he’s not my size. I can’t wait for Saturday. I’m going to show everyone.”

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Garcia, 23, will need to answer a number of key questions related to everything from ring rust, wrist surgery, a well-documented mental-health battle and a soap opera divorce with trainer Eddy Reynoso and prized pupil Canelo Alvarez. With veteran Joe Goossen now in his corner, Garcia feels refreshed and ready to let his hands go.

“Boxing is part of me. I’ve been doing this since I was seven and I’m good at it,” Garcia said. “I know that I still have a lot left to give to the sport. I feel pretty safe in the ring. I’m not taking a beating. Even in sparring, I don’t feel like I’m getting hit with a lot of shots. And fortunately, I am healthy enough to continue to fight at a high level and give fans some amazing fights.

“This is going to be an exciting fight from me. You can expect timing and explosion. I don’t look to toss someone around for a couple of rounds. If I land a good one, you can expect that I am going to be looking to take someone out. ”

Garcia, fueled by his massive social media following which includes nearly 9 million on Instagram alone, is hoping to get back on track with a victory before resuming his chase of the biggest names at lightweight, including Gervonta “Tank” Davis and Devin Haney. While no one has ever questioned his physical ability, Alvarez made headlines last fall by criticizing Garcia’s work ethic.

The fight will be the first time Garcia will enter the ring since the biggest win of his young career in January 2021, when he rose from the canvas to finish, and ultimately retire, former world title challenger Luke Campbell.

“I miss everything about boxing: the competition, the contact, destroying someone,” Garcia said. “I just love to fight and just be better than the person in front of me. Tagoe is a veteran, he is going to try his best to keep me off of him, to survive. His goal, I think, is to not get knocked out.

“I know he has been saying that facing me will be easy. But I can say one thing, my job is not to make his life easy in that ring. Fans should be ready to see me give this fight everything I got. If he can take a shot, it will be a good fight. If he can’t, he will be out of there very quick. ”

Let’s take a closer look at the fight card for Saturday night before making a prediction and pick on the main event. Odds via Caesars Sportsbook.

Fight card, odds

• Ryan Garcia vs. 1600 Emmanuel Tagoe +900, catchweights (139 pounds)
• Gabriel Rosado -300 vs. Shane Mosley Jr. +240, super middleweights
• Marlen Esparza (c) -260 vs. Naoko Fujioka (c) +210, women’s flyweight unification

Prediction

While the reveal of Tagoe as a comeback opponent felt a bit disappointing at the time due to his lack of name value, he might just be the perfect style matchup Garcia needs to rebuild his confidence and hush up his critics due to Tagoe’s straight-ahead attack . For as sublimely skilled as Garcia is offensively with his lightning quick hand speed and combinations, the legitimacy of his chin and defensive instincts on an elite level are still up for debate.

Garcia may also just be wired as such that he’ll never quite remove his vulnerabilities from the equation of any fight. A gunslinger at heart with an aggressive new coach behind him, the possibility of Garcia making an emphatic statement against the lesser skilled Tagoe is very much in play. In fact, the wide betting odds seem to suggest it’s a lock.

The scenario this creates is that Garcia might end up passing this test with flying colors while still not completely proving that he’s mentally and physically recovered from the past year.

Pick: Garcia via TKO5