Ryan Garcia took to his Instagram on Thursday to announce that he will be returning to action July 4 against an opponent who has yet to be decided.
Garcia has been vocal about returning to action despite the sporting world being at a standstill because of the coronavirus pandemic. With the UFC preparing to hold three events in the next week and various other sports slowly figuring out how to resume, the 21-year-old fighter doesn't feel like waiting for someone else to make that decision. Instead, he used social media to inform his fans of his intent to compete on Independence Day.
"July 4th I’m back," Garcia wrote. "I guess you can say I’m still turnt up!!! I have to keep the momentum going.... I don’t think there will be an audience but It will be streamed on @dazn_usa The Big Question is who’s the opponent??"
Although there has been no formal announcement by DAZN or Golden Boy Promotions, there is hope that the sport will resume in the near future. Top Rank's Bob Arum has stated that he plans to be operational in June.
While nothing is certain as of yet, this is a step in the right direction. The boxing world will most certainly take its cues from the UFC, which is holding a major event this Saturday, and make sure that promotion's upcoming events run smoothly and don't cause a spread of the virus.
Garcia is no promoter, but it appears he has his reasons to believe he'll be back in the boxing ring as soon as July. He didn't mention an opponent or a location, however. The logistics don't matter that much to him, as long as he is able to compete.
He's coming off of a devastating first-round knockout of Francisco Fonseca in February and has been targeting the top of the lightweight division, calling out the likes of Gervonta Davis, Devin Haney and others. Last week, Golden Boy CEO Oscar De La Hoya told Yahoo! Sports that he was planning a Garcia-Jorge Linares bout for July 4, but the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted anything definitive for the near future.