By Aragon Garcia: Saul Canelo Alvarez is one of many people that was impressed with the performance of the young talented lightweight prospect Ryan Garcia (18-0, 15 KOs) with his second round knockout of Jose “Wonder Boy” Lopez (20-4-1, 14 KOs) on DAZN last Saturday night in front of a large and enthusiastic crowd at the Fantasy Springs Casino, in Indio, California.
Canelo and Ryan Garcia both are trained by Eddy Reynoso. Canelo says he sees how much the 20-year-old Garcia has learned in his training, and he likes that he’s using what he’s learned in his fights. Garcia knocked Lopez, 25, down in the second round, and the fight was stopped after the round ended by referee Jack Reiss at the request of the hard hitting Puerto Rican fighter’s corner. T
“Ryan is getting better. Real good,” Canelo said to Fighthype about his observations on the performance by Ryan Garcia last Saturday night against Jose Lopez in stopping him in round two. “He’s been learning. I like him a lot. He’s real talented. He likes to learn. I like that,” Canelo said.
Canelo and Ryan Garcia are training side by side, so Alvarez has had a chance to see how good the young phenom is, and he knows having watched him the kind of talent he possesses. Canelo thinks Ryan will be ready for a world title shot soon against one of the three lightweight champions. Canelo stresses that’s no rush in pushing the 20-year-old Garcia a long, because he’s got a lot of time to continue to improve before he’s ready to fight for a world title. Canelo still thinks Garcia can be ready soon to fight for a world title.
“No,” Canelo said when asked if Ryan Garcia’s fighting style is similar to his own. Look, everybody’s got their style. He’s learning, and the things he’s learning in the gym, he’s doing in the fights, and that’s the important thing. He’s learning. Like I said, he’s a kid that, and that’s really good,” Canelo said.
The fights the boxing public wants to see Ryan involved in are matches against Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, Mikey Garcia, Teofimo Lopez, Luke Campbell, Jose Pedraza and Vasyl Lomachenko. Those are matches that will test Ryan’s ability to adapt, and handle the boxing skills of this talented bunch.
It’s silly for anyone in boxing to compare Ryan with Canelo. The two fighters are completely different. Although they both are trained by Eddy Reynoso, they’re completely different fighters and will remain that way for the remainder of their careers. Canelo is more of stocky, compact type fighter, with excellent punching power. For his part, Garcia is a tall, think boxer/puncher with excellent hand speed, and incredible accuracy. Ryan rarely misses any of his punches he throws.
“He could be ready really soon for a world title fight, but there’s no rush,” Canelo said about Ryan Garcia. “He’s real young, so you want to be ready. I like his style. I like his style in general. He has a lot of talent,” Canelo said of Garcia.
Canelo’s comment about “there’s no rush” for Garcia to be pushed into a world title fight can be interpreted to mean that he still needs a lot of improvement before he’ll be ready to challenge for a world title. Garcia is perhaps four to six years away from hitting his prime of his career. There’s a lot of time for Garcia to improve before he reaches his peak.
“He’s on his way,” said Oscar De La Hoya. “Look, he proved it again tonight. There’s a lot of fans that want to see him win that world title. And believe me, it’s going to happen sooner than later.”
