What if Ryan learned how to keep his chin down?

His chin isn't actually what gave way.

 

He'd have plenty to work on, including the basics. Early on he was lunging a bit jabbing, i'm not convinced it was a ploy to set up a counter hook. He didn't show much countering ability all night tho admittedly Tank was quite picky and and intelligent with his own offense. He was too sparing with his right hand most of the fight which allowed Tank to get his timing in defense down on that left hook. Having said that he did get countered nicely on one late in the fight but it was an excellent counter to be fair. Tank was comfortably a full level above and apart from that offensive from Garcia in the 2nd that was shattered by a big counter left he was in control all night and always looked the winner. Garcia had trouble hitting him cleanly.

Sorry Mike, i know you are after positives. First of all he's going to have to convince quite a few people his heart is 100% in boxing and that he can come out the other side of tough fights where he has to soak up some solid punishment.

Edit - the big thing now is to rebuild against the right quality of opponent so he can get some much needed experience against the right levels (which will evolve). Step back and then gradually step up.

 

Think he needs to work on his footwork greatly.

 

Good point. The straight right, whether as a lead, a 1-2, a counter is immensely important against the cacky. I was hearing people say he can win if he's smart, if he keeps away from exchanges but no, he wasn't getting it done that way and when he opened up he got stymied there too. Perhaps it was too much too soon given the levels he had faced but maybe he will never reach Tanks level anyway. It was certainly a great night for Tank, a huge success. He looked good in there, very calm and well measured and looks like he has a really good punch. Ryan's got a big punch but you've got to be able to set better fighters up and test them with it. History is littered with power punchers who didn't have the all round game to remotely do their power justice. There's hundreds and hundreds of them.

 

Manny - a legend in our time. He looks very well but I personally would like to see him hang them up for good.

 

He has great natural talent and skills. But the commitment to the game is really most significant consideration at this point in time - as already highlighted.

Even given the skills he currently possesses and accrued boxing IQ - his executions and strategies will always be compromised if he doesn’t have the 100% focus and commitment.

For whatever other superiorities Tank held over Garcia - Tank was perfectly confident in himself and would’ve gone out on his shield IF need be. No aspersions on Ryan, but he clearly didn’t have that same mental steel during the real time of the fight.

Goosen told Garcia how well he’d done in round one - but really, given Tank being a relatively slow starter, that was a key round for Garcia to get a good jump on Tank - and Garcia basically gave Tank an easy start up round without consequences.

I think Garcia did prove he could hurt Tank - as was visually apparent on impact but also backed by the fact that for a brief period, after being shook up, Tank was expressly looking to hold on rather than fight.

Though he shouldn’t have been caught by it, I thought Garcia took the KD punch pretty well …in physical terms …but mentally it did subdue Ryan somewhat going forward.

Again, great to be talking some more notable current fights in Classic!

 

Ryan Garcia is a talented fighter with explosive speed and power, but lack of heart (relative to other world class boxers) and poor ring IQ are a bad combination when it comes to boxing at the elite level.

Heart - Lack of heart is perhaps harsh, he got up from a heavy KD vs Campbell to win and fought on for another 5-rounds after being dropped by Tank. It takes guts to get in the ring in the first place & I've no doubt the body shot that stopped him, winded Garcia badly. However, as with all other attributes, I'm talking about heart relative to other elite fighters. To suceed at the highest level you have to be prepared to push yourself beyond what it would be reasonable to expect of an average human being. He got up on the count of 10, he deliberately waited until 10, then rose. I've no doubt he was badly winded, but he was physically capable of getting up. I doubt, for example, he was anymore hurt than Darren Barker was when he got up vs, and went on to beat, Daniel Geale.

IQ - Tank was much shorter, with a much shorter reach and is a puncher who likes to have his feet planted. i.e. he's reliant on a guy with Garcia's dimensions to come to him. You don't overpower Tank, you outbox him. But Garcia either did nothing, or took the fight to Tank, walking into his range. With his height and reach, Garcia should have been up on his toes, moving on the outside, jabbing and circling, in and out of his jabbing range, whilst keeping out of Tank's range. Tank would have been forced to come forwards in an attempt to get into range, that's when Garcia could have tried to time him with a counter left hook on Tank's way in, which is Garcia's most dangerous shot. Admittedly, Garcia hasn't fought like this before, but that's what ring IQ is about, using your physical attributes to be versatile and adpating to the opponent in front of you.

So, imo, it's not so much learning to keep his chin down, as deciding if he's really prepared to dig as deep as is required to succeed at the highest level and learning to adapt his style to his opponent, which is a must to be successful at the elite level.