Ryan Garcia vs Emmanuel Tagoe: Ghanaian named as American’s opponent in boxing comeback on April 9

Ryan Garcia‘s comeback trail starts against Emmanuel Tagoe on April 9 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, according to promoter Oscar De La Hoya.

The 23-year-old has not fought since defeating Luke Campbell to become WBC interim lightweight champion in January 2021.

A combination of injury and mental health issues have kept him out of action but he has since made a full recovery.

Taking to Twitter, De La Hoya wrote: “My birthday gift: The return of Ryan Garcia vs Emannuel Tagoe April 9, from Alamodome in San Antonio, TX [sic]. Let’s go.”

The 49-year-old also included DAZN and Golden Boy Promotions in his tweet, after the two recently agreed a new deal, with De La Hoya saying “we are delighted to continue to work with DAZN in 2022”.

https://twitter.com/OscarDeLaHoya/status/1489684828261740546?s=20&t=Ag3TQhPKEr-SDtIY-QZs8w

Eddy Reynoso-trained Garcia – who trains alongside Canelo Alvarez – has been chasing a fight with Gervonta Davis for years.

But it has now been confirmed the American, 23, will first face Tagoe, 33, in a few weeks’ time with the hopes of securing a lucrative showdown with unified champ George Kambosos Jr.

The lightweight rivals have been rowing back and forth on social media in recent weeks.

Garcia sensationally claimed he would knock out Kambosos Jr when the two finally meet in the ring.

He tweeted: “I will KO George Kambosos that’s a promise, say that happens regardless [in] April I will be 22-0.”

But Kambosos hit back and in response taunted Garcia about his struggles with mental health, having also revealed he is a fan of ‘The Flash’.

He replied: “You’re a good kid, Ryan. I like you, but take a ticket, buddy and try not to pull a heartstring again or injure yourself shadow boxing with your eyes