Ryan Garcia vs. Oscar Duarte: All Jokes Aside
By Chris Carlson
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 01 Dec 2023
Boy oh boy did things get ugly at the prefight presser on Thursday for Ryan Garcia versus Oscar Duarte. All jokes aside did we see more drama outside the ring than what will take place inside the ring on Saturday? For those who cared the fight between Ohara Davies and Ismael Barroso has been postponed due to visa issues. This GBP card will be streaming on DAZN Saturday night live from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
Regardless of the opinions folks have at the back and forth between Oscar De La Hoya, Bernard Hopkins, and Ryan Garcia we have a fight to breakdown. Since the folks on the stage didn’t waste any time jumping into the juicy stuff might as well do the same. ‘King’ Ryan Garcia returns to the ring for the first time since taking a loss to the money man Gervonta Davis. Oscar Duarte is a suitable enough opponent to get back on the horse that bucked Garcia off last April. An interesting tidbit that could mean something overall is Ryan Garcia joining Derrick James’s stable down in Texas.
Oscar Duarte has a record of 26-1-1, 21 of those victories coming via stoppage. His only loss came by split-decision to Adrian Estrella in 2019. The draw on his record happened in his third fight of a career that got started in 2013. Duarte’s best victory against Alex Martin showed he does have some items that Ryan Garcia will have to be aware of. It also presented a few opportunities for Ryan to win by knockout.
Let’s start with Duarte’s high guard defense that is too ear-muff-ish for this boxing podcaster. Oscar does a good job of head and upper body movement but with that type of guard he leaves his body open for damage. Duarte throws hooks with both hands but in the meanwhile his head is wide open to be hit, in other words no telephone to his ear. So look for the hook counter or during an exchange of hooks at the most likely end game. He likes to lead with a roundhouse right hand and can also counter pretty well with it.
Duarte has a fairly high workrate and throws a crafty sweeping right hand to the body. Overall Oscar has good hand speed but is a bit too robotic on offense. Duarte will look to do what he did to Alex Martin by wearing Ryan Garcia down working to body and head. It may take a few rounds for Ryan to time Oscar but when that time comes it will be curtains. The old saying “you can’t hook with a hooker” applies perfectly as both men love to throw hooks. The problem for Duarte is Garcia’s left hook is tighter, faster, and has concussive power on it. That said Oscar does have power too so anything can happen.
My Official Prediction is Ryan Garcia by stoppage mid rounds.
PODCAST LINK: http://tobtr.com/s/12291708
Side Note: The fight week drama and long standing soap opera in front of the public to see between Ryan Garcia and Golden Boy Promotions is a sight for soar eyes. It’s been entertaining and neither side is innocent of course but this boxing junkie won’t be shocked when Ryan Garcia becomes a free agent by hook or crook to add another old school saying.
Written by Chris Carlson Host/Producer of The Rope A Dope Radio Podcast Available at www.blogtalkradio.com/ropeadoperadio Follow on Twitter @RopeADopeRadio
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Chris Carlson.
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