Joe Goossen received a complimentary text message from former IBF 130-pound champion Steve Forbes in the immediate aftermath of Ryan Garcia’s sixth-round knockout of Javier Fortuna.
Forbes commended Garcia’s patience and punch placement as he broke down Fortuna, who was dropped once apiece in the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds of their 12-round, 140-pound bout Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena. Goossen took particular pride in Forbes stating that the 23-year-old Garcia looked like an “old pro” during his second fight with Goossen in his corner.
Now that they’ve experienced two training camps together, Goossen is certain that the developing Garcia is ready to fight anyone, including Gervonta Davis. Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs), of Victorville, California, called out Baltimore’s Davis (27-0, 25 KOs) again after he defeated Fortuna (37-4-1, 26 KOs, 2 NC), who, like Davis, is a shorter southpaw.
Goossen envisions Garcia’s size, strength and boxing IQ giving Davis problems in a fight Garcia stated with have to take place at the junior welterweight limit of 140 pounds because he can no longer get down to the lightweight maximum of 135 pounds.
Garcia’s veteran trainer noted that his fighter is superior to three of Davis’ past four opponents – Leo Santa Cruz, Mario Barrios and Isaac Cruz – each of whom gave Davis difficulty at times.
“Wasn’t Leo Santa Cruz a tough fight for four or five rounds?,” Goossen asked during an interview with BoxingScene.com. “Yeah, he was. I thought he dropped [Davis] in the first round. Did you see that? Can he hit like Ryan Garcia? He’s a 26-pounder. Isaac Cruz gave him a tough fight. Mario Barrios, a lot of people thought he was ahead at a certain point there, even though he got hurt a couple times along the way. The bottom line is none of those three guys I just mentioned hit as hard as Ryan Garcia, nor do they have the boxing IQ that Ryan Garcia has.”
Santa Cruz connected with a jab and a then a right hand, but their legs got tangled when Davis hit the canvas with 26 seconds to go in the first round of their 12-round, 130-pound championship match in October 2020 at Alamodome in San Antonio. Nevertheless, Santa Cruz (38-2-1, 19 KOs) trailed by only one point, 48-47, on the scorecards of judges Glenn Feldman, Alejandro Rochin and David Sutherland when Davis decimated him with a left uppercut that abruptly ended their competitive bout.
The 5-foot-10 Barrios, who is the same height as Garcia, and Davis were even on two scorecards through six rounds of their June 2021 bout at State Farm Arena in Atlanta (57-57, 57-57, 58-56 for Davis). Later in his only fight at 140 pounds, Davis dropped Barrios twice in the eighth round and once in the 11th round, when he stopped San Antonio’s Barrios (26-2, 17 KOs).
Cruz (23-2-1, 16 KOs) gave Davis perhaps the toughest fight of his nine-year pro career last December 5 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
The rugged Mexican became the first opponent to take Davis the 12-round distance, Cruz lost a unanimous decision. Judges Carla Caiz (115-113) and Max De Luca (115-113) scored seven rounds apiece for Davis, who won eight rounds according to judge Zachary Young (116-112).
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
