Can Trainer Joe Goossen Save Ryan Garcia’s Career?
Editorial By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
Current World Boxing Council Interim World Lightweight champion Ryan “King Ry” Garcia, 21-0 with 18 knockouts, Los Angeles, California, will defend his world title after 14 months of inactivity since stopping challenger Luke Campbell in the seventh round, against challenger Emmanuel Tagoe, 32-1 with 15 knockouts, Accra, Ghana. Tagoe, the former International Boxing Federation World Lightweight champion, inactive for 15 months since defeating Mason Menard by 10 round majority decision in November 2020.
There will, however, be one change in Ryan Garcia’s arsenal. Trainer Eddy Reynoso has been replaced, henceforth, with Joe Goossen. Precisely how Joe Goossen will impact Garcia’s career at this point in the game after six years with others remains a question mark. If Garcia is to fight George Kambosos Jr. or any of the other lightweight champions and contender dynamites, Goossen’s ability to remold and reshape Garcia’s abilities to a higher plane of ability will be the keys to his future success, if Goossen succeeds.
How far Goossen can improve Garcia between now and April 9, 2021, when he fights Tagoe on DAZN at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, remains to be seen, with only eight weeks to the weigh-in. Garcia has been injured, and as such could not train much. Garcia, citing mental health issues last year, pulled out form his bout with Javier Fortuna, the originally scheduled opponent. Goossen will have less than 60 days to try to identify Garcia’s strengths and weaknesses and bring Garcia to a better place in terms of ring generalship and approach.
In this reporter’s previous Real Combat Media editorial, the mental struggles of the late heavyweight contender Eddie Machen were highlighted during his career leading to his untimely death. This is a critical topic. From Edwin Valero to Arturo Gatti to Johnny Tapia, the mental health of boxers in the lower weights has been as much a prominent controversial issue today as Machen’s tragic death by attempts and finally succeeding in taking his own life was a half century ago. Through the wonder of social media
According to Garcia last year on social media, discussing his mental health struggles, “At this time, it is important to manage my health and well-being. I have decided to take some time off to focus on becoming a stronger version of myself. I hope to be back soon and am looking forward to stepping back into the ring when I am my healthiest self. I want to Thank God, my family, my doctors and my supporters. I still struggle everyday with anxiety and depression at times, because of my anxiety. I’m here to tell you (everybody out there with mental health issues) it’s still possible to reach your dreams. There are ways to cope. 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. I love you guys (the boxing fans), and will keep going.”
The question here is between last year and this year, what sort of therapy and treatment Ryan Garcia received, and what sort of therapy and treatment Garcia has received ongoing. Joe Goossen’s excellent reputation as a trainer and human being notwithstanding, Goossen is dealing with a training situation involving numerous other variables. Goossen has a complex situation with a fighter who may or may not have been injured in the ring in the same way as football, hard shots to the head. It is hard to speculate how boxing for a world champion in this situation benefits the fighter. However, if the fighter passes the prefight physical, it does not account for the prefight mental. If every veteran athlete got a brain scan and a CAT scan, professional sports would probably lose many of its best athletes due to medical issues revealed. Are Garcia’s mental health issues on the level?
Garcia, a 15 -time national champion signed by Golden Boy Promotions in November 2016, has not been happy with Golden Boy in the past about fighting outdoors. The Coronavirus Pandemic has a lot of athletes edgy for various reasons. Could Garcia’s mental block be that he did not like the venue, Fortuna, or a combination of the above? “The health of our fighters is of the utmost importance to us at Golden Boy. We wholeheartedly support Ryan Garcia, and wish him the best during this (Garcia’s mental health difficult) time,” said Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya last year.
From a business standpoint, Golden Boy would want thousands of fight fans outside at boxing cards with the popular champion Garcia, leading up to a fight with Devin Haney, Vasyl Lomachenko, Kambozos, the big lightweight names. This, as opposed to an indoor venue with seat and attendance restrictions would make the live gate crowd almost insignificant in favor of the DAZN Pay-Per-View for Golden Boy Promotions.
Shortly before the scheduled fight with Fortuna, Garcia was seen hollering and hooting on Instagram with his girlfriend on vacation. If Garcia was not thinking with his brain before the Fortuna bout, which the evidence seems to indicate, then maybe finding an out was his only way out of the Fortuna bout. Medical evidence has not been presented publicly to back up Garcia’s claim of mental health issues. While the media and the sports world is sympathetic to Garcia’s claim, how Goossen deals with whatever Garcia’s issues are beneath the emotional service in the weeks to come will determine whether Joe Goossen has the next Roberto Duran, or the next self-destructive Diego Corrales instead. Time will tell.
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