At 23 years, Ryan Garcia is one of the most interesting boxing prospects. He must be one of them if he wants to succeed cause he competes in the Lightweight division with names such as George Kambosos Jr., Devin Haney, Vasily Lomachenko, and Gervonta Davis. Ahead of his return to action, Garcia shocked his fans as he finally open his heart about the psychological problems that took him away from the ring.
Canelo Alvarez's gym partner, also trained by Eddy Reynoso, has recently announced his come back to the ring in a 135-pound fight against Ghanaian Emmanuel Tagoe (32-1-0, 15 KO's) on April 9 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
Ryan Garcia, also 21-0-0 (18 KO's), was the WBC Interim World Lightweight Champion on his last fight, the one he solved with a brutal body punch that sent his rival Luke Campbell down to the canvas. Due to inactivity, he was stripped of his title: more than a year has passed since King Ry showed the world his skills in a professional fight.
The shocking confession of Ryan Garcia about his psychological problems
On April 2021, Ryan Garcia made an announcement that turned on the alerts: he withdrew from his July fight against Javier Fortuna to focus on his health and well-being. Eric Gomez, Golden Boy matchmaker, said later that the California native was having mental health issues.
After, on his social media, Garcia made his clarification about his state of health: "I still struggle everyday with anxiety and depression at times because of my anxiety... I know I look like someone who is happy all the time but inside I hurt at times struggling just to function but I choose to keep moving forward.”, he wrote.
Almost one year later, and more than 12 months after he held his last fight Ryan Garcia confessed what he has dealt with in an interview with journalist Dan Canobbio: "I was deep in it (depression) and I didn't think I was going to live. I went into bad habits and I started drinking. And, I never drink. Ever. But, I was getting drunk all the time. I wanted to kill myself at one point. I was so paralyzed in my mind. I couldn't get out of it. If I could explain it, in words…the torment I was feeling…So bad. So intense. I just thought, maybe I just rather not be here because I can't do what I love.”
Fortunately for him, for his fans, and boxing, King Ry had the strength to overcome his problems: "I needed professional help and I got it. I feel great and I know the things that caused it. It was stress management. I was taking on a lot of things all myself, and I didn't have people in place to help take that off me." confessed the 23-years-old fighter.
