Ryan Garcia Comeback Fight: Who Is Oscar Duarte?

Ryan Garcia returns to the ring on Saturday. The handsome hitter, coming off his first pro loss, to Gervonta Davis, looks to get back on the winning track against Oscar Duarte.

Duarte isn’t well known, even though he owns a glittering record, at 26-1-1. Get to know more about this Oscar Duarte.

Oscar Duarte Is A Seasoned Pro

Oscar is 27 years old, and turned pro in 2013, so yeah, this is a seasoned dude.

The fighter is listed as being out of Parras, Chihuahua, Mexico. But he’s fought on US soil plenty.

His best win isn’t an obvious choice, being that he’s been moved pretty methodically. Wins over D’Angelo Keyes (5-27-23), in his last outing, and Alex Martin, Javier Franco and Mark Bernaldez aren’t going to make Garcia quake in his boots.

I think Ryan Garcia handled himself pretty darn well in that promotion. He's hit the right chords in his approach to the first fight back, too, looks to me…We shall see on DAZN

You might think that it’d be wise, from a Team Ryan Garcia standpoint, if his first foe coming off a stoppage loss to Gervonta Davis were a light hitting type. Is Duarte that? He owns 21 KOs in 26 victories, so on surface, going to say that Ryan will have to be respectful of what’s coming back at him.

Pretty sure he’s been drilling on that with Derrick James since that L at the hands of Tank.

Looking at Duarte, in that last outing against Keyes, looked like a tank, bulging biceps, as noted by Sergio Mora. “He’s relentless, especially with the body attack,” Mora noted.

Now, Keys is at a certain level, he’s been winning more against sub .500 foes than ones with better winning percentages.

Golden Boy is promoting the card, portions of which are to screen on DAZN streaming service

Oscar Duarte Is Not Defensive Minded

Ryan Garcia will see a standup guy on Saturday, not too tricky or slippery a target. He’s used to being the bigger gunner in that ring, so we’ll see how he acts when feeling the velocity of Garcia.

Ryan Garcia will likely be aware that it was a chopping right from Duarte that dropped Keys in the third, so he needs to be aware of that weapon. He stayed in Key’s face, waded forwarded, slinging. He switched it up, there was an uppercut, there’s the hook, so he mixes shots OK. See action below:

We expect Ryan Garcia to be in command, unlike how Duarte looked versus Keys, but we have to see how it plays out.

A left hooked dropped Keys, so Ryan will know that, too.

What Does Sergio Mora Think Of Ryan Garcia Foe Oscar Duarte?

Mora kindly chatted with NYFIGHTS. I asked The Latin Snake if Duarte is a threat to win?

“Of course he is,” the CA analyst answered. “Confident puncher on a KO streak. Wide, muscular shoulders and is hard to hit cleanly on the chin,” is his assessment of the Mexican pugilist.

Before that stop, Duarte handled Alex Martin.

In that scrap, if Ryan Garcia watched it, he’ll know that Duarte has a tendency to have a “frozen guard.” Expect Ryan to work around that, with hooks.

Duarte keeps shots semi tight, but is sometimes wide enough that Ryan could take advantage. It will be interesting to see how Duarte reacts if and when he feels heavy thunder, and starts to back up. That’s not the most familiar territory for him.

The right cross that dropped Martin in round 8 looked crisp, and showed that the Mexican keeps on hurling, and being dangerous, as the fight progresses. This Duarte looks to finish matters when his foe is flailing, if he sees Ryan Garcia buzzed, he looks like the type to truly try and finish off his prey, so his aggression level is high.

If Team Ryan Garcia scouted off of 23-5 Mark Bernaldez, from June 2022, they know that Duarte isn’t going to be hard to find. He generally comes forward, and in straight lines, so Ryan Garcia shouldn’t have to hunt to peck Duarte.

Does Duarte have the fastest hands? No. Is his power A grade? No. But he throws fast and hard enough that Garcia best be respectful. But levels, right? Ryan Garcia does have A grade hand speed and power.