Golden Boy Prospect Ryan Garcia Returns to the Ring on ESPN Thursday Night
By Anthony “Stacks” Saldaña
This Thursday night all eyes of the boxing world will be focused on the Southern California desert as undefeated prospect Ryan “KingRy” Garcia will headline the sold-out Golden Boy on ESPN card from the Fantasy Springs Resort and Casino. The 2017 ESPN “Prospect of The Year,” Garcia (13-0, 12 KO’s) will take on what on paper should be the toughest test of his career when he battles the Mexican veteran Fernando Vargas (32-13-3, 21 KO’s). Garcia the 19-year old Victorville native will put his Junior NABF Super Featherweight Title on the line, and also have a chance to win the vacant NABA USA Super Featherweight Title when he takes on Vargas Thursday night. Vargas is a very experienced boxer that fought for a world title in 2016 when entered the ring against Jaime McDonnell, but is coming off back to back losses. A unanimous decision loss to the undefeated WBC International Super Featherweight Champion Bekman Soylybayev and a very close majority decision loss to Horacio Garcia. “We are ready to take on this big challenge,” said Vargas. “We know that Ryan Garcia is a good fighter and that he is following in the footsteps of Oscar De La Hoya. We know that the fight is tough, but winning it is not impossible. We will come well prepared and ready for the upset.” Garcia who is a 15x National Amateur Champion has no doubt he’ll be victorious “I’m so excited to be in the main event. This is just the first chapter of my book. If I see opening for a knockout, I will take it. If I have to slow down, then I’ll do it. This March 22nd expect something big. I have a vision: I might sleep him with the first shot I throw. I’m going to speak it into existence! I look forward to showing the fans a great fight as I continue to build the ‘KingRy Army.’ This is a big responsibility, and I appreciate the trust and confidence Golden Boy Promotions has in me. I will not disappoint.”
In the co-main event of the night, Keandre “The Truth” Gibson (18-1-1, 7 KO’s), of St. Louis, Missouri will take on Eddie “E-Boy” Gomez (20-3, 11 KO’s), of Bronx, New York, in a 10 round welterweight bout. Gibson who’s only loss came last April when he was stopped by Antonio Orozco, has since won two fights in a row and looks to continue get one step closer to world title contention with a victory Thursday night. Gomez who has lost two of his last three fights, needs to score a impressive victory over Gibson if he plans on making any noise in a stacked welterweight division. “I’m fast, I got power, and I mix it up, I can box, brawl, go to the body and throw fast combinations,” said Gomez. “I’m ready to show the world my skills.” “Eddie Gomez is a tough, solid fighter, but he’s just been coming up short in fights,” said Gibson. “I know he’s trying to bounce back, and I’m trying to stop that from happening.” Fight fans should look for both fighters to leave it all in the ring in what should be a very entertaining fight.
Also on the card Joet Gonzalez (18-0, 10 KO’s), from Glendora, California will battle Rolando Magbanua (26-6, 18 KO’s) of Cotabato, in the Philippine Islands in a scheduled 10 round fight in the Featherweight division.
Jonathan “Thunder” Navarro (12-0, 6 KO’s) will take on Cesar Valenzuela (7-2, 2 KO’s) of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico in an eight round Junior Welterweight fight.
2016 Mexican Olympian Raul “El Cugar” Curiel (2-0, 1 KO), will enter the ring in the six round bout against Quantavious Green (1-1, 1 KO) of Shreveport, Louisiana.
And undefeated Emilio Sanchez (16-0, 11 KO’s) of Pacoima, California. will return to the ring in an eight round super bantamweight fight against a soon-to-be-announced opponent in the first bout of the evening.
