Ryan Garcia is the main attraction on a card at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas this Saturday night, as he returns from a first professional defeat last time out. ‘King Ry’ tackles Mexico’s Oscar Duarte over a scheduled twelve rounds at lightweight.
Golden Boy promote Garcia vs Duarte, live on DAZN worldwide.
Garcia (23-1, 19 KOs) is still only 25 and built a reputation for himself with some stunning early wins that shot him up the rankings.
The Californian survived a 2021 gut-check with Luke Campbell, getting off the deck to win the WBC interim lightweight title, but then went into a long lay-off due to mental health issues.
He returned in April 2022 in a landslide points win against Emmanuel Tagoe, and then knocked out Javier Fortuna in six up at super lightweight that set up an eagerly-anticipated clash with Gervonta Davis in Las Vegas back in April.
Garcia was second best though, behind on the cards, down in the second, and eventually knocked out in seven rounds.
He resurfaces this weekend against Duarte (26-1-1, 21 KOs), who arrives in Texas with a solid, but unspectacular record.
The 27-year-old has won 11 straight since a 2019 split decision loss to Adrian Estrella, but has mixed in limited company.
His last contest came in May, retiring D’Angelo Keyes after seven rounds in Indio.
Prediction: Garcia will want to get back to his explosive best, and he can do that here. I fancy him to score a stoppage win before the halfway mark.
Schofield moves to co-main event
After Ohara Davies’ scheduled fight with Ismael Barroso was postponed due to visa issues for Davies, lightweight prospect Floyd Schofield has been elevated to the co-main event, putting his unbeaten record on the line against Ricardo Lopez Torres.
Schofield (15-0, 11 KOs) has been operating at ten round level in his last three contests, beginning with a wide points win against Alberto Mercado in January, and he then knocked out Jesus Valentin Leon in two rounds three months later.
The Texas-based 21-year-old last fought in July, winning every round against Haskell Rhodes.
🤩 Floyd Schofield always puts on a show! pic.twitter.com/gIxHYvdudb
— Golden Boy (@GoldenBoyBoxing) August 14, 2023
Torres (17-7-3, 12 KOs) is a typical rugged Mexican, but has been halted three times in seven career defeats, the last a seventh round reverse to Marc Castro in April.
‘Explosivo’ did return with a stoppage win in August, against the very limited Adalberto Garcia Covarrubias.
Prediction: Schofield can take an early win here.
Mosley meets Conley
Shane Mosley Jr tackles Joshua Conley over ten rounds at middleweight.
Mosley (20-4, 11 KOs) is in good recent form since dropping a majority decision over ten to Jason Quigley in 2021, winning three on the spin since.
The 32-year-old American took a majority nod against Gabriel Rosado in April last year, and then defeated Mario Alberto Lozano, before knocking out D’Mitrius Ballard in seven in his last bout in June.
Conley (17-5-1, 11 KOs) boxed three times in 2022, and was spirited, but defeated on the cards against Sergey Derevyanchenko and Steven Butler, and has been out of action for nearly a year.
Prediction: Mosley should secure a clear decision win.
Remaining Undercard
The sole eight rounder is at super middleweight, where Darius Fulghum (8-0, 8 KOs) can extend his perfect knockout streak with another early night, this time against Pachino Hill (8-4-1, KO6).
In four rounders, Danilo Diez makes his debut, and he can take a points win against Jose Valenzuela Alvarado (2-10, 1 KO) at super lightweight, while at lightweight, Sean Garcia (6-0-1, 2 KOs) can do the same against Joseph Johnson (3-1-1).
In the battle of unbeaten bantamweight prospects, Gael Cabrera (2-0, 1 KO) can win on the scorecards against Alejandro Domingez (2-0, 1 KO), and Asa Stevens (5-0, 2 KOs) can bank a four round points win against Dominique Griffin (5-5-2, 2 KOs).
