Sports

Dominant Garcia outpoints Tagoe

Ryan Garcia claimed victory in his first fight for 15 months with a dominant points victory over Ghana’s ‘Gameboy’ Emmanuel Tagoe.

The American lightweight extended his record to 22-0 with a 119-110 119-110 118-109 victory over the experienced Ghanaian fighter.

Garcia had not fought since beating Briton Luke Campbell in January 2021.

He withdrew from his bout with Javier Fortuna in July after struggling with his mental healthand injured his hand a month before his planned return.

Garcia, 23, had been set to fight Joseph Diaz Jr in November but had to have surgery on his right hand.

The fight against Tagoe is the first time Garcia has gone 12 rounds.

He came close to a second-round knockout of Tagoe but the Ghanaian held on to see out the bout.

“I hit him with some shots – he was crafty with the holding,” Garcia said.

“I had to trap him down. It was a new experience trying to cut the ring off with a guy who’s looking to survive.”

Garcia put Tagoe on the canvas late in round two with a right shovel hook but the Ghanaian beat the count before immediately clinching to survive the round.

The bout followed the same pattern until the final bell with Garcia working to find the knockout blow and Tagoe just about managing to hold on, while sending precious little back at his Californian opponent.

Tagoe is now 32-2 after suffering his first defeat since his pro debut nearly 18 years ago.

“I had to walk him down, he wasn’t giving me anything,” Garcia said after the fight. “I’ll learn more, I know I got a lot more in me.” –BBC

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