Ryan Garcia has spent all of his 2022 campaign focusing on the future rather than dwelling on the past.
The same cannot be said of his upcoming opponent.
Dominican Republic’s Javier Fortuna (37-3-1, 26KOs) is next up for the unbeaten lightweight contender from Victorville, California in a fight that also doubles as unfinished business. The two were supposed to collide last July 9 at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles, only for Garcia (22-0, 18KOs) to withdraw due to a much-needed mental health reset.
The matchup has made its way back to the boxing schedule, now set to headline a July 16 DAZN show from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The event was formally announced Tuesday on site, though with Garcia still curious as to why Fortuna remains stuck in time.
“Fortuna is making it seem like I ducked him,” Garcia told BoxingScene.com during a media roundtable preceding the official kickoff press conference. “It’s a sh!tty take on his part. I’m just gonna prove there’s nothing scary about you.
“You can tell me I’m scared of you all you want. When I connect, we’ll see who runs and who’s there to fight. If you want to fight me, we can fight. I promise, when I hit you, you’re gonna be the one running scared.”
The fallout from last July was salvaged when former IBF junior lightweight titlist Joseph ‘JoJo’ Diaz agreed to replace Garcia, thus allowing Fortuna to move forward with the fight date. Fortuna dropped a competitive but clear 12-round decision, having since rebounded with a first-round knockout of Rafael Hernandez this past February in Santo Domingo, D.R.
Meanwhile, Garcia only recently ended a 15-month forced ring hiatus this past April, following canceled bouts with both Fortuna and Diaz. Garcia was due to meet Diaz last November 28, only to be pulled from the show due to injuring his right hand/wrist which required surgery. The longest inactive stretch of his career ended with a lopsided twelve-round, unanimous decision win over Ghana’s Emmanuel Tagoe on April 9 at Alamodome in San Antonio.
Plans were immediately in motion for Garcia—who boasts a huge following in Southern California—to return home for his next fight. Golden Boy Promotions revisited a fight with Fortuna, with talks delayed only due to an unexpected move by the WBC ordering a title eliminator between Garcia and Mexico City’s Isaac Cruz (23-2-1, 16KOs).
Golden Boy and Garcia had to wait out Cruz’s decision to ultimately pass on the fight, to finalize plans with Fortuna. It still wasn’t good enough for the 33-year-old Dominican southpaw, who has been vocal in public and directly with Garcia of his insistence that the 23-year-old lightweight has been avoiding him all this time.
“Stay off the drugs,” Garcia joked during the press conference before laughing off the remark. “Nah, but you should see the things he says to me and about me. He’s all up in my DM’s, talking sh!t in Spanish and English both.
“Basically, he calls me a coward. How am I a coward? I’m fighting you.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox