It came in at a time Tagoe was struggling to get fights in the US, having gone over a year without a bout.

That was the joy I had when the news broke that he was making a long return to the ring since that majority decision victory over Mason Menard in November 2020.

Despite the happiness, there are concerns to be raised as to whether the Ghanaian will be ready to match up with one of the best undefeated lightweights in the world currently.

Garcia is a world champion in the making and if for nothing at all his comeback win over Luke Campbell showed the boxing world what he is made up of.

I don’t doubt Tagoe’s boxing skills but I believe beating Ryan Garcia will be a tall order for him to achieve.

It may sound absurd but it looks as if Garcia’s camp are using the Tagoe fight as a tune up after months of absence in the ring.

I am saying this because Garcia announced on his Twitter page thanking Tagoe for accepting to fight him after all his targets refused to fight him.

He wrote: “I wanna thank Emmanuel Tagoe for taking this fight. No one wanted to fight me because they assumed I wouldn’t fight. I respect you and let’s give everyone a fight”.

Inactivity

While Tagoe is returning in over a year, Garcia has been inactive for 15 months, with the stakes so high for both fighters who are looking to make a victorious return.

Tagoe needs this fight badly to make a statement to the world if he is to stand a chance of becoming a competitor in a talent-packed lightweight division.

However, producing a masterclass against Garcia will take something special and extraordinary because Tagoe’s biggest fight to date was against former WBA and WBO lightweight champion Paulus Moses four years ago.

He has a bigger task ahead of him to try and beat rustiness to announce himself against one of the top shots in the lightweight division.

Tagoe has a long way to go but he has to overlook rustiness to be able to take up the biggest opportunity of his 18-year pro career.

To Garcia, settling for Tagoe after a long absence shouldn’t be a problem to his chances of enhancing his record to 22 bouts without any blemish.

He has every right to have his opinion on Tagoe but the Ghanaian must take him by surprise in April when they enter the ring to slug it out.

Tagoe’s chances

After over a decade in the sport, Tagoe must have the courage to clash with Garcia but the American’s speed will definitely trouble him.

It is something he has to deal with when the time comes so he can stick to his boxing skills if he is to stand a chance of ending Garcia’s invincibility in the ring.

Tagoe must avoid trading punches with him since that could be detrimental to his chances against a puncher who has recorded 18 knockouts in 21 fights, but I am confident Tagoe will prove himself to the world by giving Garcia a good fight even if he is not able to win the fight.

That will be very crucial in impressing the promoters for subsequent bouts.

This, I believe, can only be achieved by starting his training in his Florida base very early to enable him to get good sparring partners to prepare him for the bout.

Until that, we live to see what Tagoe brings into the fight!!!