Ryan Garcia’s biggest win of his life may have been the one he earned from outside the confines of a boxing ring.
In a profile by Dan Rafael published in the Jan. 13 issue of Boxing News, the popular Garcia offered what is probably his most elaborate account thus far on the much-publicized psychic turmoil he faced last year and which abruptly ground his burgeoning career to a halt.
Garcia, 23, sparked headlines when he decided to withdraw from his scheduled July 9 lightweight bout against Javier Fortuna. In an Instagram post, Garcia wrote that he was stepping away from the sport to “manage my health and wellbeing.” The announcement came on the heels of Garcia’s breakout performance earlier that year, in January, when he stopped contender Luke Campbell of England with a body shot in the seventh round. The winner of the scuttled Garcia-Fortuna bout was supposed to decide the mandatory challenger for WBC titleholder Devin Haney. (Joseph Diaz Jr., in the end, filled in for Garcia, defeated Fortuna, and received the shot against Haney, losing a decision).
Garcia recounted to Boxing News the day when his mental health collapsed, while training alongside stablemate Canelo Alvarez, with whom he shares a trainer in Eddy Reynoso, at Alvarez’s gym in San Diego.
“When I got to the gym I just burst out crying for no reason in front of everybody and I ran out of the gym,” Garcia recalled. “That was the moment [I decided to pull out of the Fortuna fight].”
“Canelo, everybody, was there and I was just trying to work out and I just couldn’t hold it in,” Garcia continued. “I just burst. I got out of the gym. I said, ‘I gotta go guys.’”
Garcia was originally scheduled to return on Nov. 27, against Diaz, but he suffered a hand injury a month out from the bout. The Victorville, California native is reportedly set to return sometime in the spring against a still-undetermined opponent.
“I was crying and walking my lawyer, Lupe (Valencia), outside and I was like, ‘What’s wrong with me, man? I just don’t get this,’” Garcia said.
“I was walking with him for like an hour and I just couldn’t get myself together. I didn’t know what was going on. My body just felt off, everything felt off. It was not just mental. It was like physical. I just felt like I couldn’t do anything.”
Garcia joins a number of young, influential athletes in the sporting world – from tennis star Naomi Osaka and gymnast Simone Biles to NBA forward Kevin Love and swimmer Michael Phelps – who have not shied away from talking about their ongoing travails with mental health issues, thrusting a once verboten topic into the mainstream.
Garcia credits therapy for getting him through his most recent rough patch, a stretch that included battling suicidal thoughts.
“It helped me a lot and then I kind of just went into this mode where I accepted it,” Garcia said. “I stopped fighting against the current and just went with it, and let myself recover.
He added, “It was a pretty good thing for me.”
Earlier this month Garcia made some noise about wanting to fight lightweight contender Isaac Cruz after seeing Cruz (22-2-1, 15 KOs) give Gervonta Davis a spirited 12-round battle at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Dec. 5; it was only the second time Davis (26-0, 24 KOs) went the distance. But serious negotiations – amid much trash talk between the two sides – never got underway.
Oscar De La Hoya, Garcia’s promoter, recently tweeted that he was working on a “huge” fight for his charge – which is reportedly targeted for a date in April.