Ryan Garcia won’t be fighting again in 2024.
FANMIO, the organization promoting the event alongside RIZIN, announced Sunday via press release that Garcia’s upcoming exhibition boxing bout against Rukiya Anpo has been postponed from its Dec. 30 date. According to the announcement, Garcia suffered a wrist injury in training camp.
The bout is expected to be rescheduled for a to-be-determined date in 2025.
“I’ve been eagerly preparing for my upcoming exhibition fight in Japan, training hard in Dallas over the past several weeks,” Garcia said in the release. “Unfortunately, I sustained a hand injury during training and returned to Los Angeles to be seen by the doctor, who has advised me to postpone my December 30 exhibition.”
“This is only a temporary setback, and I sincerely apologize to my fans, FANMIO, RIZIN and Anpo for the delay,” Garcia added. “No one is more disappointed than I am. Thank you for being so supportive.”
Garcia’s bout with Anpo has already been the subject of controversy, with Garcia’s Golden Boy Promotions boss Oscar De La Hoya initially stating that he had not signed off on the exhibition match (De La Hoya is yet to follow up on the status of the bout, though RIZIN president Nobuyuki Sakakibara has expressed confidence the bout will proceed as planned).
Further drama arose when Anpo no-showed a press conference in Tokyo to promote the bout, admitting that he chose to sleep in and that he did not respect Garcia.
Anpo was also included in Sunday’s press release, saying, “I have been told that Ryan is out due to an injury. I am disappointed to say the least, but knocking out an injured opponent won’t mean anything, so I wish him a speedy recovery and hope I can face the 100 percent version of Ryan Garcia. Get well soon and I’ll let you kiss my fist any time!”
Garcia’s involvement in the fight raised red flags from day one, with the popular boxer currently serving a suspension in the U.S. for a failed drug test tied to his April 20 bout against Devin Haney. That bout originally ended in a majority decision win for Garcia, but was later overturned to a no-contest following the test results. Garcia also missed weight for the bout by 3.5 pounds, meaning he was ineligible to win Haney’s WBC super lightweight title regardless of the outcome.
