Ryan Garcia Hafey

A wrist injury to Ryan “King” Garcia in training camp has led to a temporal postponement of his much-anticipated exhibition against Japanese kickboxer Rukiya Anpo.

California’s Garcia, 26, was scheduled to take on 29-year-old Anpo over eight, two-minute boxing rounds at a catchweight 153 pounds on Monday, December 30 in Tokyo, Japan in an event presented by RIZIN and FANMIO. The event will be rescheduled for a date in early 2025.

“I saw Mr Ryan Garcia on December 12 for recently aggravated bilateral wrist pain,” explained renowned specialist, Dr. Steven Shin of Cedars-Sinai Orthopaedics in Los Angeles. “I recommend that he hold off on sparring and boxing matches for several weeks. Treatment options will be discussed with Mr Garcia after further evaluation.”

Garcia, 24-1 (20 KOs), has been out of the ring since his fight with Devin Haney in April was overturned to a no contest, following Garcia’s positive test to banned substance ostarine. Garcia was also banned for a year by the New York State Athletic Commission in the process.

The bout was expected to keep Garcia active before his suspension expires in April. However, he must have to wait a bit longer to make a ring return.

“I’ve been eagerly preparing for my upcoming exhibition fight in Japan, training hard in Dallas over the past several weeks,” said the disappointed Garcia. “Unfortunately, I sustained a hand injury during training and returned to Los Angeles to be seen by the doctor, who has advised me to postpone my December 30 exhibition.”

Garcia says he does not expect the injury to prevent his eventual showdown with Anpo, who has traded increasingly nasty public barbs with Garcia throughout the past month.

“This is only a temporary setback, and I sincerely apologize to my fans, FANMIO, RIZIN and Anpo for the delay,” added Garcia. “No one is more disappointed than I am. Thank you for being so supportive.”

Meanwhile, a disappointed Anpo has taken the opportunity to wish Garcia a speedy recovery.

“I have been told that Ryan is out due to an injury,” said Rukiya Anpo. “I am disappointed to say the least, but knocking out an injured opponent won’t mean anything, so I wish him a speedy recovery and hope I can face the 100% version of Ryan Garcia. Get well soon and I’ll let you kiss my fist any time!”