Ryan Garcia’s next fight against Rukiya Anpo is set for December in Tokyo

On By Littum

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Ryan Garcia will be back in the ring sooner than expected.

Despite currently serving a one-year suspension from the New York State Athletic Commission following a positive drug test in April, Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) will lace up the gloves again for an exhibition bout against Japanese kickboxer Rukiya Anpo in Tokyo d. December 30.

Anpo is best known in the US for his three-round exhibition bout against Manny Pacquiao in July, which showed shades of the recent Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight, where Pacquiao looked every bit his 45 years.

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As an exhibition, it was scored a tie, but the 6-foot Anpo did far more damage than he received from the aging Hall of Famer.

“I’m looking forward to knocking out Anpo to try to knock out the legend Manny Pacquiao,” Garcia said in a press release. “Manny has hit his prime and him trying to knock him out rubbed me the wrong way. I want to knock him out and teach him a lesson about respect.”

Garcia was suspended in June after testing positive for the performance-enhancing drug ostarine, which was discovered in the weeks following Garcia’s best win of his career against former 140-pound champion Devin Haney on April 20.

Garcia won the bout by majority decision after knocking Haney down three times, but after he was suspended, the result was overturned to a no contest. He was fined $10,000 and forced to forfeit $1.1 million from his wallet.

“I surpass Ryan in size, speed, power, everything. If he goes into this fight feeling like a party, it will be a beatdown for sure,” Anpo said.” .”

The match will be available on Fanmio pay-per-view for $49.99, with the card set to begin at 8 p.m. CT. Details of the undercard will be announced in the coming weeks.

Harrison Campbell covers boxing for The Tennessean and high school sports for The Daily Herald. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @hccamp.