WBO orders Garcia-Tagoe eliminator

By Scott Shaffer

07/07/2020

WBO orders Garcia-Tagoe eliminator

The lightweight title picutre continues to get complicated, but at least the latest development recognizes a deserving boxer who has been lost in the shuffle for a while. The WBO has ordered an elimination bout between little-known but absolutely deserving Emmanuel Tagoe of Ghana and social media star Ryan Garcia of California. Tagoe is 31-1 and deserving of the eliminator. He has held the IBO world title and fought the best competition he could import into  Ghana, including former title holders Mzonke Fana and Paulus Moses. Tagoe's only loss came in his first pro fight (in 2004). 

As for Garcia, he now has a choice to make... fight Tagoe in a WBO eliminator or fight Luke Campbell for the WBC interim title (which is a third-rate title). The WBC already has a secondary paper champion in Devin Haney, with the WBC recognizing Vasiliy Lomachenko as "franchise champion." Lomachenko, who also holds the WBO and WBA championships is set to fight IBF title holder Teofimo Lopez in a true world championship fight. 

The stacked lightweight division can be summed up as follows: Lomachenko holds the WBA, WBC and WBO championships. Lopez holds the IBF championship and will likely unify with Lomachenko in the fall. Javier Fortuna will fight former WBA title holder Jorge Linares for a fourth bogus WBC belt, the "diamond championship." Gervonta "Tank" Davis holds a WBA regular title, and Haney holds a WBC regular title. Haney is doing a lot of talking but has yet to beat a true contender. Garcia can chose between Campbell for a WBC interim title or Tagoe for the WBO eliminator, with the WBO presenting a clearer path to a world title shot.
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