Ryan Garcia looks chunky in his December 30th exhibition match against Rukia Anbu in Japan. Garcia will face Anpo in 19 days in Tokyo in a match that will be shown on Fanmio PPV for $49.99.
In a video, Ryan pulled his pants up high to hide his spare tire, which wasn't there seven months ago. He's clearly been eating heavily on the pig since April 20, and we're seeing the visible results.
Anbu advantage
Garcia has gained a lot of weight for this fight, which may slow him down as he doesn't look as fast as he did when he was lighter. These two-minute rounds will be fast-paced and can work to Anpo's advantage. He looks in great shape.
In this week's workout clip, Ryan (24-1, 20 KOs) pulls his pants up in what appears to be a move to hide his flabby stomach. It's a move you often see with middle-aged men like Tyson Fury when they pull out their trunks to hide their bellies. Seeing Ryan resort to this move is disturbing.
He appears to be around 160 pounds, but he carries an extra 20 pounds of fat from the lanky fighter who beat Oscar Duarte a year ago on December 2, 2023.
Garcia has made weight since before his last fight against Devin Haney on April 20. He came in 3.2 pounds overweight at 143.2 pounds and had to pay $600,000.
The extra weight seemed to prevent Garcia from fighting hard every round, and he was taking numerous breaks to recharge his batteries. He can get away with it against Haney because he's not a boxer or a pressure fighter. But if Ryan was like that in front of a busy fighter, he would get fired.
The extra weight Ryan, 26, has gained doesn't appear to be muscle, and that could be bad for him. Anpo, who stands 6'0″, appears to be taking this eight-round exhibition bout seriously, and that could pose a problem for the out-of-shape Garcia.
We saw how Team Anpo beat 45-year-old Manny Pacquiao in their three-round exhibition on July 28 in Saitama, Japan. Pacquiao got every penny he got in that bout as he landed a lot of powerful shots from the lanky 29-year-old Anpo.
Garcia's future
Ryan will need to lose weight when his suspension expires in April 2025 because he can't look like he does now. He doesn't have enough strength to fight at 154 and may not be strong enough to campaign at 147 either. He'll probably do well at 147 against lower fighters like Mario Barrios and Conor Penn, but he'll fall apart against Jaron Ennis and Imantas Stanionis.
