The exhibition boxing match between Ryan Garcia and Rukiya Anpo is turning into a bad-blood showdown. Each athlete enters the match with some anger in their motivation for the Rizin New Year’s Eve event.
Rukiya Anpo vs. Ryan Garcia
Over the past several years, Ryan Garcia went from a promising young talent with knockout power in his hands to a suspended athlete with questionable life choices. Currently, he is suspended for PED usage and expelled for using racist and homophobic slurs. Additionally, he is not popular among sports fans due to missing weight and abusing drugs and alcohol. In a press conference, Japan’s Rukiya Anpo used this as motivation, he said:
“Ryan Garcia must mean ‘Fake idiot’ in Japanese … We all know Ryan Garcia’s issues. Missing weight, alcohol … I’ll show him exactly where he belongs. F*** you.”
"F*CK YOU!"#RIZIN_DECADE pic.twitter.com/tum8Og29D9
— Beyond Kickboxing (@Beyond_Kick) November 27, 2024
"F*CK YOU!"
Garcia believes he is fighting to redeem boxing legend Manny Pacquiao who Anpo faced in an exhibition match last year. Garcia said:
“Manny is past his prime, and for him to try to knock him out rubbed me the wrong way. I will knock him out and teach [Anpo] a lesson of respect.”
Rukiya Anpo is a former kickboxing world champion who held titles in K-1, he was well known for his high kick attacks and has spent a lifetime training in karate. Anpo and Garcia will have an exhibition boxing match with Rizin in Tokyo, Japan, on December 30.
