The WBO orders Ryan Garcia to fight Emmanuel Tagoe
The World Boxing Organization (WBO) Championship has ordered a lightweight title elimination bout between the sanctioning body’s second-ranked contender Ryan Garcia (20-0, 17 KOs) Emmanuel Tagoe (31-1, 15 KOs), who is ranked third by the WBO.
Luis Batista, chairman of the WBO Championship committee, released an official letter on July 6. This final eliminator is for the right to fight current WBO World Lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko (14-1, 10 KOs).
Golden Boy Promotions president Eric Gomez (promoter of Garcia) and Lou DiBella (promoter of Tagoe) have 20 days to negotiate a deal. If both parties can’t come to terms, a purse bid will be ordered with a minimum bid of $150,000.
DECISIONS, DECISIONS FOR “KINGRY”
An interesting dilemma is now on the table for Garcia. This mandate by the WBO comes five days after a July 1 order from the World Boxing Council that he fights two-time world title challenger and WBC number-one ranked lightweight Luke Campbell (20-3, 16 KOs) for their “interim” World Lightweight title.
In short, the fighter who calls himself “KingRy” has options. So with the choice of fighting a Tagoe or Campbell, what will the cocky 21-year-old do?
To many observers, Tagoe would be the safer target. While the 31-year-old from Accra, Ghana has a better record on paper than Campbell, his resume and level of opposition don’t come close to that of Campbell.
It will be interesting what the handlers at Golden Boy will decide: fight Tagoe to put them in position to fight Lomachenko, or go for what would seem to be a riskier fight in Campbell in order to fight WBC World Lightweight champion Devin Haney (24-0, 15 KOs).
Oh, what it is to be young, talented, popular, and with the power to choose. Stay tuned to 3KingBoxing to catch the latest on this developing situation and Team Garcia’s next move on the lightweight chessboard.
By: Michael Wilson Jr.
