One of boxing's rising stars is jumping right into the lion's den to begin 2020 as lightweight Ryan Garcia will face Francisco Fonseca on Valentine's Day, Feb. 14, from the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., live on DAZN.
Garcia (19-0, 16 KOs) competed two times in 2019, knocking Jose Lopez in March and then giving a dazzling performance in the co-main event of the Canelo Alvarez-Sergey Kovalev card in November when he knocked out Romero Duno in 98 seconds. The 21-year-old, with over 4.4 million followers on Instagram, looks to continue the momentum from 2019 and bring it into the new year against the toughest test in his young career.
"I'm very excited to be in the ring once again," Garcia said in a press release. "I'm looking to shock the world this year. I'm going to show the boxing world that I'm here forever!"
Fonseca (25-2-2, 19 KOs) is a former two-time world title challenger, losing to Gervonta Davis by eighth-round knockout on the Floyd Mayweather Jr.- Conor McGregor undercard in August 2017 and to Tevin Farmer by unanimous decision on the Canelo Alvarez-Rocky Fielding in December 2018. Things have turned around for the native of Nicaragua since the Farmer bout, as he has gone 3-0-1 with all of the victories coming via stoppage. He's coming off an action-packed fight in his last outing, a majority draw with Alex Dilmaghani in November.
The 25-year-old knows people think he's nothing more than a fighter in the way of Garcia's path to bigger and better things. Fonseca plans on ruining those plans and feels he's the guy to hand Garcia his first loss.
"Nicaraguan boxing is at the very top right now because we have two world champions representing us right now," Fonseca said. "That's why I will not let my country down. When I face Ryan Garcia, I will expose him on his own territory, and I will deliver him his first professional [defeat]. My manager Rosendo Alvarez and I have been waiting for. We've dreamed of fighting Ryan Garcia, and we have the antidote to defeat him."