Ryan Garcia and Canelo Alvarez had a teacher-pupil relationship.
Garcia trained at the same gym as boxing's pound-for-pound king under the guidance of Eddy Reynoso in San Diego, Calif. They would work out together, Alvarez would give Garcia pointers, and they would attend each other's fights. Things took a turn after Garcia pulled out of a scheduled July 2021 fight with Javier Fortuna, citing mental issues. Before his November fight against Caleb Plant, Alvarez said that Garcia wasn't 100 percent dedicated to boxing. The comments hurt Garcia because of his relationship with Alvarez.
In February, Garcia revealed he would be leaving Reynoso's gym and would be working with Joe Goosen and his father, Henry. During his three-and-a-half year tenure under Reynoso, Garcia went 5-0 with five knockouts. Garcia felt a switch of trainers was necessary because Reynoso didn't have the time to give him 100 percent. At the beginning of March, when formally announcing his May 7 clash against WBA (super) light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol, Alvarez doubled down on his previous comments saying that Reynoso “has all the time” for Garcia and he “needs to be disciplined.” Despite the tension right now, Garcia hopes everything works out and they can be friends again.
"I would hope so," Garcia said on Wednesday's edition of The DAZN Boxing Show to preview his April 9 bout against Emmanuel Tagoe, which can be seen live on DAZN. "I would hope that we could come back and just be good friends because that was a special time in my life. Obviously, as a young kid, I went to the gym around 19 years old. I stayed there for about five fights, over three-and-a-half, four years, I think. I appreciate those moments, but obviously, there's a new chapter now. But I don't have no hard feelings towards him. I wish him the best. I think he's a great person and a great fighter."
Garcia (21-0, 18 KOs) returns to the ring for the first time since he knocked out Luke Campbell in January 2021. Previously, Garcia felt he'd step away for good by 2026. However, that is no longer the case, as Garcia feels he has a good ten years left before he hangs up the gloves.
Did the gap between fights make Garcia miss the sport more? Not according to Garcia, who feels you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.
"I definitely don't think it was that because one thing about me, a lot of people don't understand my mentality is a lot different than you see that on the internet," Garcia said. "My mentality is I want to eat everything up. I don't want to do the normal stuff. My competitive spirit never left. It's more for me what happened outside of the ring had a lot to do (and) a mixture of understanding outside of things how they could catch up to you. Not only physically, spiritually. There’s a lot of battles that I had to go through. Every man has to go through one of those, and I came out on top with God. Now, I'm ready to go into battle. I'm a warrior by heart."
Garcia trained at the same gym as boxing's pound-for-pound king under the guidance of Eddy Reynoso in San Diego, Calif. They would work out together, Alvarez would give Garcia pointers, and they would attend each other's fights. Things took a turn after Garcia pulled out of a scheduled July 2021 fight with Javier Fortuna, citing mental issues. Before his November fight against Caleb Plant, Alvarez said that Garcia wasn't 100 percent dedicated to boxing. The comments hurt Garcia because of his relationship with Alvarez.
In February, Garcia revealed he would be leaving Reynoso's gym and would be working with Joe Goosen and his father, Henry. During his three-and-a-half year tenure under Reynoso, Garcia went 5-0 with five knockouts. Garcia felt a switch of trainers was necessary because Reynoso didn't have the time to give him 100 percent. At the beginning of March, when formally announcing his May 7 clash against WBA (super) light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol, Alvarez doubled down on his previous comments saying that Reynoso “has all the time” for Garcia and he “needs to be disciplined.” Despite the tension right now, Garcia hopes everything works out and they can be friends again.
"I would hope so," Garcia said on Wednesday's edition of The DAZN Boxing Show to preview his April 9 bout against Emmanuel Tagoe, which can be seen live on DAZN. "I would hope that we could come back and just be good friends because that was a special time in my life. Obviously, as a young kid, I went to the gym around 19 years old. I stayed there for about five fights, over three-and-a-half, four years, I think. I appreciate those moments, but obviously, there's a new chapter now. But I don't have no hard feelings towards him. I wish him the best. I think he's a great person and a great fighter."
Garcia (21-0, 18 KOs) returns to the ring for the first time since he knocked out Luke Campbell in January 2021. Previously, Garcia felt he'd step away for good by 2026. However, that is no longer the case, as Garcia feels he has a good ten years left before he hangs up the gloves.
Did the gap between fights make Garcia miss the sport more? Not according to Garcia, who feels you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.
"I definitely don't think it was that because one thing about me, a lot of people don't understand my mentality is a lot different than you see that on the internet," Garcia said. "My mentality is I want to eat everything up. I don't want to do the normal stuff. My competitive spirit never left. It's more for me what happened outside of the ring had a lot to do (and) a mixture of understanding outside of things how they could catch up to you. Not only physically, spiritually. There’s a lot of battles that I had to go through. Every man has to go through one of those, and I came out on top with God. Now, I'm ready to go into battle. I'm a warrior by heart."