Ryan Garcia is set for his return to the ring.
The 140-pound contender, coming off a seventh-round knockout loss to Gervonta Davis in April, will face Oscar Duarte of Mexico on Dec. 2 at the Alamodome in San Antonio (DAZN), ESPN is reporting.
Duarte (26-1-1, 21 KOs) has stopped all 11 of his opponents since he lost a decision to Adrian Estrella in 2019, although Garcia (23-1, 19 KOs) is a significant step up in opposition.
Plus, the 27-year-old from Parral, Chihuahua, will be moving up from 135 for the fight.
“Here you have a guy [Duarte] who’s coming off 11 KOs in a row,” said Garcia’s promoter, Oscar De Le Hoya. “There’s a guy who’s a power puncher who’s going to come forward and make Ryan fight.
“It’s the proper fight after a knockout loss to Gervonta.”
Garcia, a 25-year-old from Southern California, will be fighting as a full-fledged 140-pounder for the third time. He decisioned Emmanuel Tagoe at that weight in April of last year, stopped Javier Fortuna in six three months later and then lost to Davis at a catch weight of 136.
Davis stopped Garcia with a single body blow in the high-profile matchup between social media stars.
Garcia will have respected trainer Derrick James in his corner for the first time when he faces Duarte.
De La Hoya said Garcia will be looking for another big fight for Gacia if he gets past Duarte.
“We’re looking to do a major, major fight with Ryan, possibly around Super Bowl weekend,” De La Hoya said. “I would love to talk to Bob [Arum] to see what’s going on with him and Teofimo [Lopez], but there’s other options as well.”
