Ryan Garcia returns to the ring for the first time since suffering a knockout loss to Gervonta Davis when he faces Oscar Duarte on December 2 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
Garcia’s last fight was a blockbuster event that sold over 1.2 million pay-per-view buys, making it the biggest PPV of 2023 and cracking the top 10 highest-grossing PPV boxing events of all time. Unfortunately, Garcia was stopped in the seventh round by “Tank” and found himself in the loss column for the first time in his professional career.
Now comfortable at 140 pounds, and with a new trainer in Derrick James, Garcia will look to bounce back and return to form against Duarte. Garcia (23-1, 19 KOs) remains one of the biggest stars in the sport but will have to avoid falling short a second time against an opponent who is looking to pull off a massive upset.
Duarte (26-1-1, 21 KOs) has won his last 11 fights by stoppage since losing a split decision to Adrian Estrella in 2019. It’s a huge step up in competition for him, but he’s more than up for the task of taking down the social media superstar and knockout artist.
Stay tuned as The Sporting News will provide live updates of Garcia’s return to action.
Ryan Garcia vs. Oscar Duarte live updates, results, highlights
Round Eight: Duarte continues to apply pressure as Garcia begins moving a lot more than he has. The crowd wants more action. Duarte crowding Garcia but allowing him to escape. Duarte lands a punch behind the head. Left hand from Garcia lands and Duarte is in trouble! Big combination and Duarte goes down! He can’t beat the count and it’s over!
SN Unofficial Scorecard: —
Round Seven: Duarte still chasing Garcia but is having a hard time getting inside. A pair of right hands get through for Garcia. Garcia cracks Duarte coming inside. Garcia offers a lot of movement that is keeping Duarte from setting his feet to throw. Counter left from Garcia. Not a busy round for either fighter.
SN Unofficial Scorecard: 10-9 Garcia (69-64 Garcia)
Round Six: Duarte has finally managed to get in close with ease but gets smacked with a left uppercut and a right hand. Right hook from Garcia lands as Duarte draws close. Hard left hand from Duarte on the inside. right hand over the top from Duarte. Garcia continues to jab and lands a right hand when Duarte tries to rumble inside.
SN Unofficial Scorecard: 10-9 Garcia (59-55 Garcia)
Round Five: Two hard right hands from Garcia as Duarte continues to pressure. Duarte unloads and is trying to land anything everywhere. Hard uppercut from Garcia and a left hand follows. Duarte banging away when he gets close. Not landing clean. Big combination from Garcia. Hard left hand from Duarte. Garcia turns away as Duarte gets close. Low blow from Garcia and he gets a warning. Garcia lands a left hand and moves away. Close round.
SN Unofficial Scorecard: 10-9 Garcia (49-46 Garcia)
Round Four: Duarte with some body work and roughs him up in the corner. The referee warns Duarte again. The referee is getting a little too involved. Duarte getting closer but not throwing enough and Garcia picks him off with a combination. Low blow from Duarte. Duarte with more pressure and it seems to be working. Garcia lands a pair of lefts to close the round but this may be Duarte’s first round he has won.
SN Unofficial Scorecard: 10-9 Duarte (39-37 Garcia)
Round Three: Right hand from Duarte to open the round. Duarte with a lot of pressure. Hard right hand from Garcia and he follows with a left hook. Duarte is taking the punches well but he can’t keep getting hit clean. Another hard right hand from Garcia lands clean. Garcia opening up more and landing with higher frequency. Straight right hand from Garcia. Duarte gets warned for punching the back and behind the head.
SN Unofficial Scorecard: 10-9 Garcia (30-27 Garcia)
Round Two: Garcia opens with the jab and lands a right hook. Duarte trying to corner Garcia. Left hook from Duarte lands flush. Garcia takes it well. Left hook from Garcia lands off the ropes. Duarte with a right hand over the top. Garcia pushing forward now. Right hand lands clean for Garcia.
SN Unofficial Scorecard: 10-9 Garcia (20-18 Garcia)
Round One: Garcia takes the center of the ring and starts probing with the jab. Hard right to the body from Garcia. Duarte barely misses a left hook. Garcia circles off and jabs. Hard left uppercut by Garcia. Duarte lunges and misses with a body shot. Garcia’s movement is keeping Duarte off balance. Another uppercut from Garcia. Good opening round.
SN Unofficial Scorecard: 10-9 Garcia
10:08 p.m. ET: The main event is up next as Ryan Garcia is preparing to head to the ring with Hip Hop artist Lupe Fiasco by his side for his comeback fight against Oscar Duarte. We’re going to round-by-round coverage from here on out.
9:46 p.m. ET: Good lord. Schofield throttled Lopez with four knockdowns in the first round to get the TKO victory. Behind a lightning-fast jab, Schofield wrecked a seasoned veteran in an eyebrow-raising fashion. Schofield said he was ready for the biggest and best lightweights in the world and it’s going to be hard to deny him if he keeps performing like this.
